Netanyahu claims that Israeli soldiers have found ‘sophisticated’ Russian weapons in Lebanon

Paris –

Prime Minister (PM) of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces have found ‘advanced’ Russian weapons while searching Hezbollah bases in southern Lebanon. He said that based on a UN Security Council resolution in 2006, only the Lebanese army was allowed to have these weapons.

“However, in this region, Hezbollah has dug hundreds of tunnels and hideouts, where we have just found several advanced Russian weapons,” Netanyahu said in the French newspaper, Le Figaro, on report by AFP, Thursday (17/10/2024).

The Washington Post, citing Israeli officials, said Russian and Chinese anti-tank weapons had been found in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the country escalated its conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah last month.

Israel says the goal of its military campaign against Hezbollah is to make the area safe so that some 60,000 residents of northern Israel can return to their homes.

“A new civil war in Lebanon would be a tragedy. Of course it was not our aim to provoke such a war. Israel had no intention of interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs,” Netanyahu told Le Figaro.

“Our only goal is to allow our citizens who live along the Lebanese border to return home and feel safe,” he said.

Hezbollah and Israel engaged in an artillery conflict that gradually escalated after Hamas attacks on Israel sparked the Gaza war.

Since Israel began its offensive against Hezbollah, at least 1,373 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures. The actual number of victims may be higher.

(fast/fast)