By Staff, Agencies

The Shin Bet on Wednesday arrested two ‘Israeli’ settlers who stole tens of thousands of bullets less than 24 hours after the incident took place in the ‘Israeli’ military ‘Tze'elim’ base in southern ‘Israeli’-occupied Palestine on Tuesday.

According to a military source cited by ‘Israeli’ Walla! news agency, the suspects were able to enter the base and went to a bunker that housed ammunition before stealing tens of thousands of 5.56 mm rifle bullets.

The exact number of bullets stolen is currently unknown, but it is estimated to be around 26,000 in total, according to the Shin Bet.

An investigation, spearheaded by the Zionist military, police, and the Shin Bet was launched on Tuesday leading to the arrest of the two settlers.

Notably, the bullets were stolen even with increased security measures around the base to prevent exactly this from happening.

"Recently, the number of break-ins went down," a military source told Walla! noting that the Zionist military had made a number of measures to increase their safety. "And yet, they still broke in and stole from us."

This is not the first time a large number of bullets were stolen from an ‘Israeli’ occupation military base.

In November 2022, over 70,000 rifle bullets and 70 grenades were stolen from an ‘Israeli’ military base in the occupied Golan Heights.

A month before that, 30,000 bullets were stolen from ammunition warehouses in the Sde Teiman base in the South.

The Zionist military has for years struggled with weapons being stolen from bases across the occupation entity, mainly in al-Naqab. Many of the weapons stolen in recent years were taken by soldiers along with civilian contractors who worked on the bases, who not only had access to bases but knew where the weapons were stored.

Former Tze'elim base commander Maj.-Gen. Guy Tzur told ‘Israeli’ Army Radio that this incident is "the epitome of a lack of governance."

He explained that "It's something ‘Israel’ hasn't dealt with for years. Almost no one is ever caught, and those who are caught are hardly ever punished in the end."