Boxes of cash valued at nearly $28m, gold bars, luxury jewellery and 183,000 pieces of weaponry.
These are just a few of the items looted by Israeli soldiers from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, according to a new report by Israeli outlet Ynet.
The looting was so widespread that soldiers joked the items “broke their backs” from carrying them.
Most of the looting has been conducted by and collected by special army units dedicated to “seizing” money and other property from “enemy” territory. But “independent” looting by soldiers has also been rampant.
During the ongoing invasions of Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, soldiers have seized enough pieces of weaponry to form a small army, according to Ynet.
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This includes various missiles, drones, advanced anti-tank missiles, thousands of explosive charges, thousands of standard rifles (including new ones still in their packaging), sniper rifles, military communication devices, compasses, binoculars, night vision equipment, uniforms, boots, dozens of vehicles, and even collector’s treasures such as 1930s French rifles and rare, valuable pistols used by Hezbollah’s operatives.
An Israeli officer referred to as A, who participated in the looting of southern Lebanon, said soldiers couldn’t use vehicles in some villages so they moved the stolen items on foot.
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“At first, we carried missiles, weapons, and crates of ammunition back to Israel on our backs at night, but it quickly became too much. It really broke our backs. And our guys are tough,” he said.
The vast amount of equipment is now stored in dozens of warehouses and secure basements across Israel, some of which are secret.
It is still unclear what Israel will do with them, according to the report.
There has been political discussion about sending some of it to Ukraine for its war against Russia. However, this idea has been shelved, mainly due to Israel’s desire to maintain neutrality, particularly regarding Russia’s interests in Syria.
Furthermore, the quantity of spoils is small in comparison to the scale of Ukraine’s conflict, which is already supported – for now – by the US and several European countries.
The Israeli army has not confirmed whether it has recycled any of the seized explosives for use by its engineering forces, but it has trialled the idea to address the huge demand for explosive charges.
Lieutenant Colonel Sharon-Katzler, who is part of the unit responsible for looting, said there was an urgency to optimise the stolen items for use by Israeli forces.
“For example, after Hamas’s invasion into the western Negev on 7 October, we studied the explosive devices they used and reinforced our tanks and APCs accordingly,” he said.
