Israel Discovers Hezbollah Stockpiles of Russian Weapons

Latest Developments

• IDF Finds Stockpiles of Modern Russian Weapons in Lebanon: Israeli troops have been finding large troves of Russian weapons in Hezbollah’s possession, some manufactured as recently as 2020, as IDF troops continue their ground operations in southern Lebanon, The Wall Street Journal reported on November 19. Approximately 60-70 percent of weapons found in Hezbollah weapons stockpiles during the initial phases of Israel’s ground operations had markings indicating that they were manufactured in Russia and destined for Syria.

• Antitank Missiles Have Had the Most Devastating Effect: The stockpiles included the Kornet antitank missile, as well as Metis, Konkurs, Fagot, and Sagger missiles. According to the report, these antitank missiles, superior to the Iranian-made copies used by Hamas in Gaza, have been “the most effective method of killing Israeli soldiers” in Hezbollah’s arsenal.

• Russia Has Supported Other Iran-backed Terrorist Groups: Russia has had a military presence in Syria since 2015, supporting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War. Syria is a known corridor for Hezbollah arms smuggling into Lebanon, primarily arms sent by Iran. While Russia has not openly admitted to supporting Hezbollah with weapons, it has provided targeting data to the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group in Yemen and is reportedly considering supplying the Houthis with missiles and other small arms.

FDD Expert Response

“The United States has provided billions of dollars to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) so that it can, among other things, interdict weapons shipments entering Lebanon. These discoveries demonstrate that the LAF lacks either the will, the capability, or both to interdict weapons shipments to Hezbollah. This will have to change if we want to avoid such wars in the future.” — Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power

“Some in the West have continually hoped that Russia would restrain Syria, preventing the Damascus regime from becoming a wholesale subsidiary of Tehran. But those hopes were always exaggerated because Russia’s interests are similar to Iran’s and because Moscow is no less willing than Tehran to prop up a regime that has committed gruesome atrocities. These latest weapons shipments are an apt illustration of the full convergence of Russian, Iranian, and Syrian interests in support of Hezbollah.” — David Adesnik, Vice President for Research

“This is further proof that democracies under fire — Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and South Korea — are not fighting one authoritarian state, but in reality, they are in conflict with all four aggressors. In this case, Israel’s principal adversary may be Iran, but they are actually fighting Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China. The sooner the coalition of democracies understands this threat and treats all four aggressors accordingly, the better off we will all be.” — RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, FDD Senior Fellow and Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology

“It should be no surprise that Russian-origin weapons facilitated by the Assad regime have been found in Hezbollah’s arms caches. Hezbollah’s most sophisticated anti-ship cruise missile, for example, is not the Iranian copy of the C-802, which was fired at an Israeli vessel in 2006. Rather, it is the Yakhont/Oniks, a Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missile that reportedly made its way into Hezbollah’s arsenal by way of Syria. One goal of the Iranian axis has been to create a fluid relationship between each member so that Tehran is not the only party bolstering or bailing out others.” — Behnam Ben Taleblu, Senior Director of FDD’s Iran Program