IDF displays weapons captured from Hizbullah

By YAAKOV KATZ
Russian-made anti-tank missiles and night-vision telescopes as well as hundreds of Kalashnikov rifles were only some of the surprises the IDF discovered in Hizbullah's hands during the fighting over the past month. On Wednesday, the IDF put the loot it has retrieved from the battlefield on display for the press in Ramle. "The weapons come from a number of countries in the Middle East and from Russia," said Lt.-Col. Ze'ev, from the Ground Forces Command. There were also weapons that carried IDF emblems. "Some of the weapons were stolen from the IDF during its 18-year presence in Lebanon," Lt.-Col. Ze'ev said. "Others were possibly left behind during the withdrawal in 2000." One of the more interesting items was a mock boulder that had been discovered hiding the entrance to an underground Hizbullah bunker. The plastic boulder was covered in mud and officers said it blended perfectly into the south Lebanese hills. "Some of the weapons astonished us," said Maj. Meir Gutman, deputy head of the IDF's Unit for Captured Equipment Management (UCEM). "We found highly-advanced night-vision systems and other surveillance and intelligence equipment which they used to spy on us for the past six years." Some of the weapons, Gutman said, were manufactured in Iran. Among those present at the media conference were representatives of Amnesty International in Israel to prepare a report on the Hizbullah rockets barrages in northern Israel. "We want to check the impact of the attacks," said one of the Amnesty officials. "It is important for us to see what type of weapons they use so we can better understand what Israel is going through."