The Israeli military is struggling to curb looting by its soldiers in southern Lebanon despite repeated warnings from senior commanders, Israeli media reported Sunday.
The Tel Aviv-based Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted an unnamed reservist who said he witnessed several instances of looting.
“We came across many reserve units at the border; they simply took everything – weapons, souvenirs, jewellery, blankets, pictures,” the soldier said.
In another instance, he said he witnessed an Israeli commander preventing soldiers from taking looted goods back to Israel.
The Haaretz newspaper also reported that soldiers looted private homes and shops in Lebanon whose inhabitants or owners fled the fighting. There were similar reports during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir issued a stark warning about looting by soldiers in a speech to senior military officers just under a week ago.
“The phenomenon of looting, if it exists, is reprehensible and can bring the entire army into disrepute,” he said, according to media reports. “If such incidents have occurred, we will investigate them. We will not simply move on to the next item on the agenda.”
Zamir reportedly instructed the relevant commanders to submit a detailed report on the matter within a week. In the event of evidence of offences, these should be handed over to the military police for criminal prosecution.
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