The IDF displayed a jarring collection of weapons at its Tzrifin Base this week: German firearms manufactured in Nazi factories during World War II, recovered from Hezbollah warehouses in Lebanon and now sitting alongside modern Iranian-made arms seized during the ongoing conflict.

The weapons on display included one MG34 machine gun manufactured in 1939 and two MP40 submachine guns made in 1934-35, each bearing a swastika and Nazi eagle. Also visibly engraved on each gun was an X, which Lt. Col. (res.) Idan Sharon-Kottler, commander of the IDF Enemy Equipment Collection Unit, said were presumably made by Russian soldiers to mark military spoils during World War II.

The weapons, nearly nine decades old, offer a window into the murky and far-reaching procurement networks that have supplied Hezbollah’s arsenal over the decades.

“These Nazi guns were made in factories of the German military industry. They were found in warehouses and buildings in Lebanon and were probably used for psychological effect,” Sharon-Kottler told the Press Service of Israel. “They were not in active use — no one makes ammunition for these weapons anymore,” he added.

Rounding out the display were more modern pieces of the terror group’s arsenal. Also exhibited were rocket launchers, an Iranian Badr missile, Iranian-made firearms, and camouflage uniforms. In total, more than 7,500 items have been collected during the fighting, ranging from rockets to drones.

“It shows the vast range of Hezbollah weapons and their procurement process,” Sharon-Kottler said, stressing that the items on display represent only a fraction of the full haul. “These are only samples,” he said, declining to elaborate on the total scope of the seizures.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)