Inside Israel's Captured Arsenal: From Nazi-Era Relics to Modern Iranian Missiles

Deep inside central Israel, at the Tzrifin military

Deep inside central Israel, at the Tzrifin military base, a warehouse holds the remnants of a multi-front war. Fox News Digital was granted rare access to a vast collection of confiscated weaponry—rockets, drones, sniper rifles, and anti-tank launchers—seized from Hezbollah and Hamas operatives. The cache, which includes equipment manufactured in Iran, Russia, China, and even Lebanon and Gaza, offers a stark look at the machinery of terror that has targeted Israeli civilians since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

The arsenal is a testament to the sprawling network of Iran's so-called "axis of resistance." Among the items on display are the remnants of Iranian rockets that struck civilian areas, including Tel Aviv and Beersheva, where a recent ballistic missile attack wounded 19 people. For Lt. Col. (res.) Idan Sharon-Kettler, commander of the IDF's Captured Equipment Evacuation Unit, identifying these weapons is routine, yet some artifacts stand out—like a Nazi-era MG-34 machine gun, complete with an eagle-and-swastika stamp, found in a Hezbollah compound in Lebanon. Sharon-Kettler explained that such relics were likely used for propaganda to boost morale among fighters.

The collection also reveals the terror groups' tactical ingenuity. A motorcycle from Egypt's Halawa Motors, captured in Israel on October 7, was used to transport hostages, while ATVs equipped with six anti-tank rockets were designed to ambush convoys in southern Lebanon's rugged terrain. The IDF also seized Iranian-produced mortars, drones used as decoys to divert resources, and even a Russian-made cannon positioned in a residential window—a stark example of Hezbollah's embedding of military assets within civilian areas.

The weaponry spans generations and origins: Russian AK-1…

The weaponry spans generations and origins: Russian AK-103 and AK-104 rifles, Austrian Steyr sniper rifles, and Iranian replicas of the same, alongside Chinese and Russian submachine guns and anti-tank launchers. Uniforms, helmets, and medical kits from Syria, China, and Lebanon round out the haul, painting a picture of a hybrid force blending professional military equipment with guerrilla tactics. Sharon-Kettler stressed that Israel's operations in Lebanon remain vital, noting, "If we are not doing the work to clean Lebanon from military entities targeting our civilians, nobody else is doing that."

As the U.S.-led talks on Hezbollah's disarmament and an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon progress, with the next round set for Rome in early September, a State Department official expressed cautious optimism: "We are not naive about the difficulties... But the fact that the teams sat together, communicated directly, and generated options is itself a structural change." The seized arsenal, meanwhile, stands as a sobering reminder of the ongoing threat and the complex origins of the weapons fueling it.