Paris:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed a French newspaper that Israeli forces had discovered “state-of-the-art” Russian weapons in searches of Hezbollah bases in south Lebanon.

Netanyahu highlighted to Le Figaro newspaper, in an interview launched Wednesday, that below a 2006 UN Safety Council decision solely the Lebanese military was allowed to have weapons south of the nation’s key Litani river.  

“Nevertheless, on this space, Hezbollah has dug a whole lot of tunnels and caches, the place we now have simply discovered a amount of state-of-the-art Russian weapons,” the French article quoted Netanyahu as saying.

The Washington Publish, quoting Israeli officers, has reported that Russian and Chinese language anti-tank weapons had been present in Israel’s raids inside Lebanon because it escalated its battle with the Iran-backed Hezbollah final month.

The Israeli military didn’t instantly reply to an AFP query in regards to the prime minister’s feedback.

Israel says the purpose of its army marketing campaign in opposition to Hezbollah is to make the area protected in order that about 60,000 evacuated residents of northern Israel can return to their properties.

Many left their properties due to cross-border shelling between Israel and Hezbollah after the launch of the Gaza struggle on October 7 final yr.

“A brand new civil struggle in Lebanon can be a tragedy. It’s definitely not our purpose to impress one. Israel doesn’t intend to intervene in Lebanon’s inner affairs,” Netanyahu instructed Le Figaro.

“Our solely purpose is to permit our residents dwelling alongside the Lebanon frontier to go house and really feel protected,” he added.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a progressively mounting artillery duel after the Hamas assaults on Israel set off the Gaza struggle.

Since Israel began raids on Hezbollah, at the very least 1,373 folks have died in Lebanon, in response to an AFP tally of Lebanese well being ministry figures. The actual toll is probably going increased.

(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)