Israeli Navy Boards Ship, Finds Iranian Arms Headed for Gaza
Israeli Navy Boards Ship, Finds Arms Likely Headed for Gaza
Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli navy vessel enters the southern Israeli port of Ashdod after the Israel navy announced it had seized a boat off the Israeli coast carrying weapons which the military believes were destined for Gaza.
An Israeli navy vessel enters the southern Israeli port of Ashdod after the Israel navy announced it had seized a boat off the Israeli coast carrying weapons which the military believes were destined for Gaza. Photographer: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
Israel’s navy boarded a ship flying a Liberian flag about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from its coast that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was carrying weapons intended for “terrorist organizations” in the Gaza Strip.
“The source of the weapons is Iran, which is trying to arm Gaza,” Netanyahu said today in a text message.
Army Spokesman Brigadier General Avi Benayahu said the ship loaded cargo in the Syrian port of Latakia and was carrying three containers of weapons to Egypt to be smuggled into Hamas- controlled Gaza.
Israel’s naval blockade of the Palestinian territory has come under criticism after a commando raid on an aid boat headed for Gaza in May left nine Turkish citizens dead. Israel has said the blockade is legal as it prevents the smuggling of weapons to Iran’s proxies in the region such as Hamas. The Islamic group is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and Israel.
“Iran is the source of all evil in this region,” Benayahu said on Army Radio today, noting Iranian ships had docked in Syria two weeks earlier. “It finances, supports, encourages and supplies all the terrorist organizations operating here.”
The ship departed Latakia and proceeded to Mersin, Turkey. It was en route to Alexandria when it was intercepted and Turkey had “no connection to this incident regarding the weaponry uncovered on board,” the army said.
Turkey, once Israel’s closest ally in the region, withdrew its ambassador after the May naval raid. It has demanded an official apology and compensation for the victims as preconditions for normalization of ties.
Egyptian Route
Benayahu said Israel’s assumption is the weapons would have been smuggled into Gaza through tunnels on the coastal strip’s border with Egypt. Israel doesn’t think Egypt is involved and has noted a “significant increase” recently in Egyptian efforts to stop smuggling into Gaza, he said.
Netanyahu said that the ship was stopped according to international law.
Israel last intercepted a ship carrying weapons in November 2009 when it stopped a vessel headed for Syria and seized an unprecedented 500-ton haul of weapons from Iran intended for the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, the army said at the time.
To contact the reporters on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net; Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem at aodenheimer@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.
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