The IDF said Friday that Givati Brigade troops directed Shayetet 13 in a targeted ground operation to tighten the security zone in southern Lebanon. Acting on intelligence that provided evidence of weapons in the area of al-Khiyam, Shayetet 13 found a giant cache of weapons in a school there.

The Givati Brigade, an IDF infantry unit, often works in close cooperation with Shayetet 13, a naval special operations force.

The Israeli forces discovered hundreds of weapons at the school, including anti-tank rockets, mortar shells, grenades, launchers, light firearms, explosive devices, explosive materials and explosive device mechanisms. The discovery of materials with markings from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) highlighted Hezbollah’s exploitation of the civilian population as human shields.

Like Hamas, Hezbollah has embedded itself within the civilian population, disguising its fighters as civilians and storing its weapons and ammunition stockpiles in civilian population centers such as schools, mosques, hospitals and churches, which imperils the lives of civilians. This cynical strategy serves the terrorist group’s aims, since international outrage and pressure are directed at Israel, not at Hezbollah, when civilians are killed in military operations to eradicate the threat to Israel’s security.