Weapons stolen from Israeli army warehouses flowing to criminal groups: Report

Weapons and ammunition stolen from Israeli army warehouses during the war in the Gaza Strip have made their way to criminal organizations, including LAW anti-tank rockets, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported Thursday.

It said the military may not know the full quantity of weapons and ammunition stolen from warehouses and now circulating outside its control.

Two incidents involving LAW rockets were recorded this week in the Arab towns of Sajur and Jaljulia, it said.

KAN said the nature of recent incidents and falling black-market weapons prices suggest that arms were stolen on a “massive scale” after emergency unit warehouses were opened during the war.

It added that missing ammunition can be recorded as having been used in combat, making it difficult to determine how much was actually stolen.

The broadcaster also reported a sharp increase in the criminal use of drones and military-grade weapons.

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The number of criminal incidents involving hand grenades rose from 75 in 2023 to 988 in 2024 — nearly three incidents a day, according to KAN.

In Nazareth, a hand grenade was dropped from a drone this week, it added.

An investigation by the Israeli police’s Lahav 433 unit also found that companies in Bedouin communities had purchased hundreds of large cargo-carrying drones using fraudulent invoices, according to the report.

The drones have not been located, and authorities do not know where they are being used, said KAN, citing assessments that some may be used in smuggling operations.

The broadcaster said Israeli police, the army, the Shin Bet security agency and the broader security establishment are assessing the scale of the threat posed by drones and developing ways to counter them.

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