Israeli commandos storm arms ship from Iran bound for Hezbollah

[henank]

The ship was believed to have set out from Iran and later docked in Yemen and Sudan before sailing through the Suez Canal. Its final destination was believed to be either Syria or Lebanon.

The Antigua-flagged ship was discovered during routine patrols conducted by the Navy, according to a communiqué from the Israel Defense Forces Spokespersons Unit.

After soldiers boarded the freighter ship, they discovered a large cache of arms and ammunition which were concealed in order to appear to be of a commercial nature.

After the initial search on board the ship, the navy towed the freighter to Israel, where it conducted a thorough inspection of the cargo, the IDF said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1125807.html

[henank]

1. More details

This time from Ynet

The crew members showed no resistance. The ship was found to be carrying at least five containers of ammunition and weapons, under the guise of a civilian delivery.

The cargo included rockets, grenades, mortar shells and missiles. "This could be bigger than Karin-A," a military source said.

[Alamuti Lotus]

2. that's theft, aggression, and piracy

[oberliner]

15. You actually believe that?

A request was made to inspect the ship. The request was granted by the captain. The crew members did not know they were unwittingly (and in violation of international law) transporting weapons hidden among the cargo.

That you (or anyone) would perceive this action as "piracy" is truly stunning.

[LeftishBrit]

17. Really?

It seems to me to be just common sense, which any country would probably attempt to do. I do not believe that something like OCL is justifiable self-defense, but this action is, if anything ever is. Otherwise, what is even the purpose of countries having intelligence and security services?

[Why Syzygy]

3. This should be posted in LBN. nt

[Scurrilous]

4. So should this.

"A day after it was released for publication that American-Israeli Ya'acov "Jack" Teitel was arrested early last month by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on suspicion of carrying out a serious of ideologically-motivated terrorist attacks, many people are left wondering how he managed to smuggle into Israel the arsenal he allegedly used to carry out the crimes.

Teitel made aliya from Florida in 2000. New immigrants are eligible to receive duty-free shipments for three years, and many use this benefit to import furniture, appliances and other items to help them build their new lives.

Teitel told police and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) that he sent the weapons to Israel in a shipping container after he made aliya, during a period when he was exempt from customs for the shipment.

Moti Eden, a spokesman for the Haifa Port, said that port workers bear no responsibility for checking the contents of shipping containers entering the country. The containers are sealed and employees are forbidden to open or inspect containers during unloading or transit. The responsibility falls on the Israel Tax and Customs Authority, Eden said."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799073775&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[shaayecanaan]

5. I wonder if the Palestinians would be justified...

in intercepting a vessel in international waters that was ferrying weapons to the settlers.

[LeftishBrit]

18. Yes, IMO they would be.

Any country is justified in intercepting arms being delivered to their enemy.

[bemildred]

6. Israeli Navy Captures Arms Shipment

JERUSALEM — Israeli navy commandos seized a cargo ship early Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea that Israeli officials said was carrying rockets and ammunition bound for militants from Hezbollah.

Israel intercepted the ship, which was sailing under an Antiguan flag, near Cyprus, 100 miles west of the Israeli coast, and took it the Ashdod harbor in southern Israel.

“As of now, what we know is that this was a smuggling attempt to arm Hezbollah with terrorist means against civilians,” Shaul Mofaz, a member of the Knesset and a former defense minister, told Israel Radio. “The intent was to send arms, mainly missiles and launchers, meant to strike civilian targets.”

News reports quoted the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, and other officials saying the ship had been carrying the arms from Iran to Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, but officials released no evidence to back up those claims.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/world/middleeast/05israel.html

[bemildred]

7. Owners of Hezbollah-bound arms ship: We didn't know about weapons

Just before midnight, the signal was given and the Four Species Operation was underway after continual intelligence surveillance. An Israeli Navy commando force, that reached the deep sea in small boats, boarded the Francop, a cargo ship owned by charter company UFS traveling under an Antiguan flag.

The crew of sailors did not resist the commando and said that they did not know what was in the large container on board. The commando force opened the container and revealed missiles, rockets, shells, grenades, and small arms.

The defense establishment estimates that the weapons were on their way from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The ship was slated to anchor in Beirut, and from there to be handled by Nasrallah's operatives. However, near Cyprus, about 180 km (about 110 miles) off the coast of Israel, the plans went awry. The Francop was taken to Ashdod Port in the midst of another thwarted smuggling affair.

The ship left Damietta Port in Egypt for Limassol, Cyprus. The ship was slated to anchor Thursday in Beirut Port and continue on to Latakia Port in Syria, where it would dock over the weekend.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3800186,00.html

[bemildred]

8. Defense officials say weapons were bound for Syria

Special Navy forces discovered a massive amount of weapons and ammunition on a cargo ship some 100 nautical miles west of Israel overnight Tuesday after boarding the vessel, which was flying an Antiguan flag.

Defense officials said the 140-meter long Francop, captured near Cyprus, was carrying arms sent by Iran and destined for Syria and Hizbullah.

Hundreds of tons of weaponry were on board in dozens of containers, they said.

A significant amount of 122-millimeter Katyusha rockets, likely made in Iran, assault rifles, mortar shells and grenades were found on board, added the officials.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799087344&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[bemildred]

9. Israel Navy chief: Hezbollah-bound Iran ship carried hundreds of tons of arms

---

"Unfortunately, some pirates sometimes take action in the name of inspection and prevent the sailing of commercial ships," he was quoted as saying by the state IRNA news agency during a visit Wednesday. "This ship was carrying goods from Syria heading to Iran and was not carrying weapons making materials."

It was unclear why Moallem said the ship was headed in the opposite direction of that claimed by Israel. Syrian officials were not immediately available for comment in Damascus.

---

At a press conference Wednesday, Ben-Yehuda said that the ship had been carrying 40 containers filled with 300 tons of weapons each, all meant for Hezbollah in order to pose a threat to Israel.

40 * 300 == 12,000 tons.

The navy commander described the operation, saying that the Antigua-flagged ship was first detected during a routine patrol. In coordination with NATO ships, the ship's crew was questioned and a request for a closer inspection was presented to them. Defense officials encountered no resistance in boarding the ship. An inspection of the ship's documents revealed that the ship was carrying several containers of weapons originating from Iran and headed for Syria.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1125807.html

[azurnoir]

11. So the ship was bound for-Hezbollah?

Is that on a map?

[TomClash]

14. It's somewhere between Herzegovina and Ho Chi Minh City nt

[ConsAreLiars]

22. "Ben-Yehuda said that the ship had been carrying 40 containers filled with 300 tons of weapons each"

No reality checker available at the time to publish, Not surprising, since fact checkers often seem to get kicked out of the room when the fear-mongers take charge. The author claims, thus proving his/her bias or stupidity, 40 containers were each filled with 300 tons (600,000 pounds) of SCARY STUFF!"

The max load for a container to be off-loaded by crane or trucked under special waivers is unclear. It depends on where and how. After some searching, it is certainly 1/10 of that SCARY! fabrication. Loads that size would break the cranes and bust the trailers they aimed at if they made it that far.

My conclusion, the "Israel Navy chief" is a cowardly, ignorant, dishonest, lying, hate-war/mongering SOB who supports the kill-em-all policy and practice by those who have been controlling the state apparatus of Israel and will fabricate any sort of "fact" that seems useful. Just like the right-wingers in the US.

[henank]

23. Those Haaretz figures are a mistranslation of the Hebrew original

The JPost reports that the shipment weighs 500 tons all in.

The Haaretz wording is obviously a mistranslation of Ben Yehuda's words. If you can read Hebrew you can see what Ben Yehuda said in the original http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1125832.html?more=1">here. If you can't read Hebrew you'll just have to take my word for it.

An exact translation reads: " carried about 40 containers in which were around 300 tons of arms intended for the Hezbollah organization for the purpose of threatening Israel's home front."

I expect you now to retract your slanderous description of the Israeli Navy chief. Not holding my breath though.

[ConsAreLiars]

24. I'll retract my attribution.

The vile deception and fear/scare shit seems, according to your corrections, to have been done by some Israeli employee at Ha'aretz. If they don't find and fire that POS they can take full credit for being expert liars, and in this one case take that title from jpost.

[bemildred]

10. Israel Seizes 500 Tons of Hezbollah-Bound Iran Arms (Update1)

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Israeli navy intercepted a ship heading 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.

“This is the largest cache of smuggled weapons ever to be seized by Israel,” army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz said in a phone interview today. “The cache includes thousands of rockets as well as hand grenades and mortar shells.”

Israel seized the ship 100 miles (160 kilometers) off its Mediterranean coast and discovered 40 containers carrying the weapons, Leibovitz said. The vessel was flying the flag of Antigua and was stopped late yesterday due to “suspicions” about the vessel, she added.

The seizure reflected “a well-known Iranian technique, taking advantage of cargo ships flying different flags in order to smuggle containers loaded with large amounts of highly volatile weaponry to terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah,” the army said in a statement. Israeli officials have accused Iran and Syria previously of supplying weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Islamic Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ajq8.fQK6B.M&pos=9

[azurnoir]

12. Snarkiness aside

does Israel have any proof that the shipment was intended for Hezbollah or is that just a means of attempting to justify what might otherwise be called piracy?

[henank]

13. It can't be called piracy

since "The Israel Navy force reached the cargo ship sailing under an Antiguan flag Tuesday night and asked to perform a routine questioning that is periodically carried out in addition to an examination of the cargo. The captain gave the go-ahead."

Furthermore, "the Israeli Navy notified the relevant officials that it was rerouting the ship to Ashdod Port for a thorough examination." (See here.

Surely asking permission to board, and notifying relevant naval authorities, would make such an act as far from piracy as possible.

As to how they knew of the destination of the arms, I imagine their intelligence would have kept them informed. As to proof, who knows what the Israelis will show the "relevant authorities" when the time comes. I can't imagine they're going to publish their intel on the internet for all the world to see.

[azurnoir]

19. the claim is that the arms were bound for Syria

are arms sales to Syria illegal? As for "asking to board may I refer you to the title of the OP

[bemildred]

16. I have no idea.

On the one hand:

I believe what the IDF says about as much as I believe what the Pentagon says, that is: they only lie when it's expedient. There does seem to have been a well-coordinated media offensive all ready to go, pompous politicians loudly patting themselves on the back, etc. And it certainly seems like a good time for a distraction. Reminds me of a number of others of these stories that seem to remain bereft of hard facts and subject to dispute in perpetuity. It does seem unlikely that the stuff has little tags on it that say "for Hezbollah" and "for Syria" and "with greetings from the Government of Iran". You might note that there is some disagreement about how much military stuff was found in the ship, etc. but it sounds like a whole bunch any way you look at it.

On the other hand:

I see nothing unbelieveable in the notion of arms being shipped here and there about the planet, happens all the time. And the best propaganda is based on a kernel of truth, so it would not surprise me if the facts about the contents of the ship are not being stretched that much. If you were the IDF and you got word of this thing, you would want to make the best use of the opportunity.

I will admit that the story immediately aroused my bullshit sniffer, which is why I am interested in it, but I would not want to hazard any guesses as to what the facts are.

[bemildred]

20. Iran and Syria deny arms claims

Iran and Syria have denied Israeli claims that a ship seized in the Mediterranean was carrying Iranian weapons for Hezbollah militants.

---

In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held a joint news conference with his visiting Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem and dismissed the Israeli allegations.

Mr Muallem said: "Unfortunately, some official pirates in the seas, sometimes in the name of the navy, sometimes in the name of inspection, obstruct trade movement between Syria and Iran.

"This ship does not carry Iranian weapons to Syria and does not contain military material to manufacture weapons in Syria. This ship carries imported goods from Syria to Iran."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8343673.stm

Again with the disagreement about which way the boat was going.

[bemildred]

21. Israel Navy chief: Hezbollah-bound Iran ship carried hundreds of tons of arms

---

(Again with the 12,000 tons statement here.)

The navy commander described the operation, saying that the Antigua-flagged ship was first detected during a routine patrol. In coordination with NATO ships, the ship's crew was questioned and a request for a closer inspection was presented to them. Defense officials encountered no resistance in boarding the ship. An inspection of the ship's documents revealed that the ship was carrying several containers of weapons originating from Iran and headed for Syria.

A random check of the containers revealed weapons, the navy chief explained, especially rockets hidden inside containers belonging to the Iranian commercial fleet.

Ben-Yehuda refused to divulge whether Israel had any prior intelligence regarding the ship's cargo, saying that "we have ongoing intelligence indicating that Iran is continuously supporting Hezbollah and other organizations with massive quantities of weapons." He said that no anti-aircraft or anti-tank missiles have been found aboard the ship.

---

Intelligence agencies had surveilled the vessel for a number of days leading up to the raid. The decision to seize the ship was made following a recommendation by top IDF brass and was approved by the country's most senior echelon.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1125807.html