‘Ready for imminent war’: IDF displays captured terrorist weaponry

After Oct. 7th, the IDF seized thousands of assault rifles, along with hundreds of RPG launchers, thousands of rockets, and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.

By Amelie Botbol, JNS

“The anti-tank rocket launchers and rockets we found belonging to Hezbollah are the most technologically advanced weapons you see here today,” Lt. Col. (res.) Idan Sharon-Kettler, deputy commander of the Israel Defense Forces Asset Confiscation Unit, told JNS at an exhibition at the army’s Tzrifin Camp in central Israel.

Sharon-Kettler’s unit has been operating since 1973. He was called up for duty on Oct. 7, 2023, and since then, the unit has been actively extracting weapons and equipment from all areas in which the IDF is operating.

“The army reaches a point where it uncovers large quantities of enemy equipment. Either we go in together with the combat forces to retrieve the weapons, or the forces bring it to us,” Sharon-Kettler said.

“Oct. 7 was different because we had to enter our own towns and civilian homes in the south to collect weapons belonging to terrorists who had been killed there. That’s something we never planned to do.”

One of the tractors used by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack is on display at the exhibition. The tractor was used to breach the Gaza security fence near Kibbutz Erez before being stopped in the fields of Kibbutz Yad Mordechai.

As visitors approach the barracks where the weapons are stored, remnants of Iranian missiles used to target Israel at various times come into view.

Nearby stands a mock Badr-3 surface-to-surface missile that was used as a propaganda prop during Hamas parades in Gaza.

The terrorists typically store such weapons beneath civilian homes or in facilities built to deceptively resemble residential structures.

At the entrance to the room displaying Hamas weaponry, several motorcycles are parked. Terrorists used them to infiltrate Israel on Oct. 7 and to transport hostages back to Gaza.

“These motorcycles are large and heavy. Some were practically new and were kept specifically for this mission,” Sharon-Kettler said. “Most of them were manufactured in the Far East and smuggled in.

“This black UAV was taken from a manufacturing facility that operated inside Gaza. It is here because on Oct. 7, at least four of these crashed and exploded at our military bases around Gaza,” he added.

On the left, various types of diving equipment are laid out on the floor. One of the suits was recovered from Zikim Beach, which was attacked from the sea on Oct. 7.

Another suit was seized inside Gaza from a Hamas base along the northern section of the coast.

Medical kits used by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack are also on display. “The medical equipment in these bags is not intended to save lives but to ensure that wounded terrorists can continue fighting. It includes bandages and painkillers. We found more than 10 of these bags inside Israel,” Sharon-Kettler said.

One medical kit in particular stands out—a set designed to treat various symptoms in babies, complete with a baby doll.

“This specific kit was taken from inside Gaza, from within a tunnel, and it shows that kidnapping babies and keeping them alive was part of the plan for the Oct. 7 massacre,” Sharon-Kettler said.

Toward the center of the room, various types of knives are laid out. “Anything with a blade was part of the terrorists’ equipment on Oct. 7. Every terrorist whose body we found was carrying at least one blade. You can see kitchen knives, butcher knives, axes, homemade knives, commando knives and sharpened screwdrivers,” he said.

Near the knives stands a rocket launcher improvised from a traffic pole, a car jack lift and construction materials. Instead of being used to rebuild Gaza, Sharon-Kettler said, such materials were repurposed to manufacture weapons. “This launcher fires S-5 or S-8 rockets,” he added.

On a nearby desk are aerial images of locations attacked on Oct. 7, along with original orders authorizing the assault. Targets include junctions, municipalities, water facilities and bomb shelters—places civilians would be expected to flee to during rocket attacks.

“They knew people would be in bomb shelters and planned to attack those shelters in Sderot,” Sharon-Kettler said.

Displayed on a table are numerous weapons, including RPK light machine guns, sniper rifles and various types of AK-47 assault rifles.

“We found at least one RPK machine gun on every Toyota pickup truck that entered Israel. We seized more than 40 of them inside Israel after Oct. 7, and additional ones in Gaza. Some are original Russian-made weapons, some are Chinese copies and others were manufactured in Iran.”

One RPG launcher on display bears a July 2023 manufacturing mark, just three months before the massacre. It was fitted with thermobaric rockets, which ignite on impact and generate an intense fireball, incinerating everything in the immediate vicinity.

On Oct. 7, Sharon-Kettler said, the IDF seized thousands of assault rifles—roughly corresponding to the estimated number of terrorists who infiltrated Israel—along with hundreds of RPG launchers, thousands of rockets and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.

“Some people talk about Gaza as an open-air prison with no way to bring things in,” he said. “Almost nothing in this room was produced inside Gaza. Hamas chose to smuggle weapons and spend millions of dollars on terrorist military equipment to carry out a massacre of civilians instead of helping its population.”

Near the entrance to the room displaying Hezbollah and Syrian weapons, a Hezbollah UAV that crashed inside Israel lies on the floor.

Mortars and a recoilless cannon bearing Iranian markings are also on display. They were captured in Lebanon, where they had been positioned to target Israeli border communities.

“You can see how Hezbollah maintains its weapons,” Sharon-Kettler said. “They are sealed in plastic, with humidity testers to prevent rust. This is military-grade maintenance, designed to keep the equipment ready for imminent war.”

Hezbollah also attempted to develop new weapons, he said. “This is a modified RPG-7—two RPG-7 launchers bound together to fire two rockets simultaneously. They thought this would defeat our anti-tank systems,” Sharon-Kettler added.

To the left, an RPG-29 is displayed in its case with operating instructions. Nearby are bags containing various types of military vests recovered from areas Hezbollah had prepared in advance of a planned breach into Israel.

Advanced rocket launchers, including Kornet man-portable anti-tank guided missile systems, were heavily used to strike homes in Metula, Kiryat Shmona and Kibbutz Manara during the fighting in the north.

At Tzrifin, a small number of weapons recovered from Syria are displayed at the front of the room. “It’s the same type of equipment, but it’s not as old as Hamas’s weapons and not as new as Hezbollah’s—it’s somewhere in between,” Sharon-Kettler said.