Dozens of grenades & 1,000s of bullets stolen from IDF base, 2nd heist in two weeks

Thousands of bullets and at least 2 dozen grenades for underbarrel launchers have been stolen from an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) base in the Upper Galilee. It’s the second such incident this month, with a base in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights targeted two weeks ago.

At least 2,000 M16 assault rifle bullets as well as 24 grenades for a single shot M203 launcher were stolen from a military bunker at the IDF base in the Upper Galilee, according to Israeli media.

The yet unknown thieves allegedly infiltrated the base at around 8:00pm Tuesday. The breach was discovered after an alert was triggered by an alarm on the perimeter fence. It later emerged that four of the locks at the ammunition storehouse had been cut.

Military police have opened an investigation into the incident, probing how a security breach into the compound resulted in the theft of the ammunition. The base serves as the reserve division of the Northern Command.

This is the second case of ammunition theft in Israel this month. On October 2, anti-tank mines, ammunition for assault rifles, explosive charges and detonators were stolen from a base in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Theft of military-grade weapons and ammunition is quite common in Israel. In most instances, the stolen arms are used by organized crime and by terrorists.