IDF lists weapons found near UN posts in two southern Lebanon villages

Update, 8 November, 20:07 Israel time

The IDF has now detailed the weapons it says troops found near Meiss El Jabal. In a post on X, the military listed Kalashnikov rifles, RPG launchers and rockets, a PK machine gun, fragmentation grenades, an explosive device, ammunition, and communications and surveillance gear. It said these were lying beside humanitarian aid boxes and emblems of both Amal and Hezbollah. The IDF placed one stockpile in a civilian home about 200m from a UN post and the other in a storage facility roughly 100m from a UN post.

The Times of Israel reported that the military's statement also covered a second village, a-Tiri, where Kfir Brigade troops located the apartment the army says Hezbollah used for military purposes, some 250 meters from a UN post. According to the IDF, it held surveillance equipment, combat gear, living supplies and Hezbollah emblems. Our earlier report had placed the apartment with the Meiss El Jabal find. N12 also reported finds in both villages, at distances of 200 to 250 meters from UNIFIL positions.

The Times of Israel quoted the IDF directly as calling the discoveries further proof that UNIFIL had failed in its mission and that armed groups were exploiting its inaction. Our earlier report noted that the IDF text then available to us did not contain that language. The Jerusalem Post and Ynet both highlighted the aid boxes found at the sites.

No response from UNIFIL, the Lebanese government or Hezbollah has been reported.

The story as first reported

Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon found an apartment that Hezbollah used for military purposes, along with dozens of weapons, inside a civilian house and a storage building roughly 200 meters from United Nations positions, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson. The military said the discovery was made by the 'Oded' Brigade Combat Team, also known as the 9th Brigade, during activity near the village of Meiss El Jabal.

The IDF said soldiers located two stockpiles of equipment and arms in a home it described as civilian. The Israeli news outlet News.co.il published drone footage of the site and framed it as evidence that the UN peacekeeping force in the area had not carried out its mission. That characterisation is the outlet's own; the IDF statement available to us does not use those words.

Who reported what

The core account comes from the IDF spokesperson's office, which said troops of the 91st Division are active in what it calls the Security Zone in southern Lebanon, with the stated aim of removing threats to Israel. The statement as received is cut off partway through its description of the house, so details it may have gone on to give, such as the types of weapons, are not available here.

News.co.il, writing in Hebrew, described the location as an operational apartment of Hezbollah, which it called a terror organisation, and said the weapons were concealed in a building made to look like a house and a civilian warehouse. Its report repeats the IDF's figure of about 200 meters from UN posts and its description of dozens of weapons. It does not cite a source other than the military, and its drone video appears to be the material it presents as proof.

Hezbollah and southern Lebanon

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shiite movement with an armed wing and a political party. It is backed by Iran, and Israel, the United States and several other countries classify it as a terrorist organisation. Its fighters have long been based in southern Lebanon, the area between the Israeli border and the Litani River, where Israel has accused the group of placing military infrastructure inside villages and private homes.

Israel says that practice puts Lebanese civilians at risk and makes it harder to separate military targets from residential ones. Hezbollah has historically rejected Israeli accounts of this kind. Neither of the reports here includes any response from the group.

Where Meiss El Jabal is

Meiss El Jabal is a Lebanese village close to the border with Israel, facing communities in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel. Villages along this stretch of the frontier have been the scene of repeated Israeli ground activity, and the IDF regularly publishes reports of weapons and positions it says it has found there.

The IDF's 91st Division, sometimes called the Galilee Division, is the formation responsible for the Lebanese border sector. The 'Oded' Brigade is a reserve armoured brigade that operates under it.

The UN presence and why distance matters

The UN posts referred to belong to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, a peacekeeping mission deployed in southern Lebanon. Its mandate includes monitoring the area near the border and supporting the Lebanese army in keeping the zone free of armed groups other than the Lebanese state's forces.

Israeli officials have repeatedly criticised UNIFIL, arguing that Hezbollah has been able to build up arms close to UN positions without the force stopping it. UNIFIL has in the past said it reports violations it observes but that it is not mandated to conduct forcible disarmament. The emphasis in both reports on the short distance between the weapons and the UN posts reflects that long-running dispute: the closer a cache is found to peacekeepers, the stronger the Israeli argument that the mission has not been effective.

The Security Zone

The IDF uses the term Security Zone for the area of southern Lebanon where its forces are currently operating. The reports do not define its boundaries or say how deep into Lebanon it extends. For many readers the phrase recalls the Israeli-controlled strip in southern Lebanon that existed before Israel's withdrawal at the turn of the century, though the current use of the term is the military's own and the reports do not draw that comparison.

What the reports do not say

• Neither report lists the specific weapons found or explains what made the apartment military in use beyond the IDF's description.
• No response from UNIFIL, the Lebanese government or Hezbollah has been reported.
• The reports do not say whether anyone was living in the house, whether any people were detained, or what was done with the weapons.
• The IDF statement available is incomplete, so further details it may contain are not reflected here.