An FN MAG machine gun was stolen last week from an IDF base in southern Israel. According to Galei Tzahal, soldiers at the Givati Brigade training base left the weapon next to the armored personnel carrier they were training on, and thieves came and took it. The Military Police Investigations Unit is investigating the incident. The IDF confirmed the report.
Arms thefts have posed a problem to the IDF for years, particularly in bases that are in areas inhabited by Bedouins. Most of the stolen weapons and ammunition make their way to criminal organizations, taking the lives of innocent civilians.
Earlier this month, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition were stolen from the IDF's Tze'elim base in southern Israel. Less than 24 hours after the theft occurred, IDF soldiers, along with the Shin Bet and police forces, apprehended two Israeli citizens, residents of a Bedouin town in the Negev, for their alleged involvement in the robbery.
Based on intelligence from the Shin Bet, both suspects were located and arrested, and the entire cache of stolen ammunition, approximately 26,000 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, was recovered.