Israel Matzav

Hezbullah used IDF weapons in kidnapping

Arutz Sheva is reporting that Hezbullah used weapons in the kidnapping of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev that the IDF abandoned in Lebanon when current Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered it to flee in 2000. There's actually more to the story than that, according to one of my sources, and I will get to that in a little bit. But let's look at the Arutz Sheva story first:

According to Maariv, an investigation has found that the terrorists who captured IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were using equipment that was left behind when the IDF retreated from Lebanon in 2000.

The retreat was conducted hastily during the night at the orders of then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak. "The Barak government's irresponsible withdrawal from Lebanon brought Hizbullah to the fence, paved the way for Nasrallah and caused the problems in Lebanon in 2006," former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at a Tuesday ceremony marking a year since the Second Lebanon War.

There's more to it than that. Hezbullah also had more recent vintage IDF weaponry than what was abandoned in 2000. Apparently, Hezbullah had purchased weapons that were stolen from IDF facilities, mostly in northern Israel. As a result, the IDF has allegedly changed how it distributes weapons to soldiers.

There were also weapons that the IDF itself had sold to Iran in the 1980's (as part of what is now known in the US as the Iran-Contra scandal), which were turned over to and used by Hezbullah last summer.

This is a video showing Israeli forces uncovering and exploring Hezbollah tunnels in Lebanon on September 6, 2006. Some are stocked with weapons and ammunition, another has a loaded Katyusha launcher aimed at Israeli cities.



According to one of my sources, the bunker in which the Hezbullah terrorists hid in order to kidnap Goldwasser and Regev was not actually discovered until the last day of the war. A soldier went off to a secluded area to urinate and heard that he was urinating on something hollow (I kid you not). As a result, a trap door that led to the bunker was found on the ground.

Here's another video of Hezbullah weapons and equipment captured by the Israeli Defense Forces booty evacuation unit as part of Operation Change of Direction, were presented Wednesday August 9, 2006 at the Logistics Branch base.

Dozens of different types of guns and pistols, magazines, RPG launchers, communication devices, a motorcycle, machine guns, submachine guns, cannon, a MAG, a bunker cover, and a long ranger observation camera were captured by the force.

Among the weapons, IDF equipment used by the Hezbollah was also presented. IDF communication devices, combat bullet-proof vests, and backpacks were presented. As well as anti-tank missiles used by the Hezbollah. It is also known that the Hezbollah owns missiles of the most advanced types, among them Russian missiles that the organization acquired through Syria.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:21 PM