Israel says rockets bound for Gaza seized
JERUSALEM — Israeli naval forces on Wednesday seized a ship laden with rockets allegedly bound for militants in the Gaza Strip, and officials accused Iran of orchestrating the delivery in an elaborate 8,000-kilometre journey that included covert stops across the region.
The Syrian-made M-302 rockets would have put Israel’s biggest cities well within range of Gaza, where militants already possess thousands of less powerful rockets. During eight days of fighting in 2012, armed groups fired 1,500 rockets into Israel, including several that reached the outskirts of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The naval raid, which took place on the Red Sea hundreds of kilometres from Israel, came as Iran showed off powerful new ballistic missiles equipped with multiple warheads. The arms bust drew renewed Israeli calls for world powers to toughen their stand in negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program.
“Iran has been exposed for what it is. It smiles in the Geneva talks about its own nuclear ambitions, gives soothing words, and as they’re doing that, they’re shipping these deadly weapons to the world’s worst terrorists,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in California during a U.S. visit. “Such a regime must not be able to have the capacity to make nuclear weapons.”
Israel believes that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.
Netanyahu has been an outspoken critic of the efforts by six world powers to negotiate a deal with Iran that would substantially scale back its nuclear program in exchange for ending international sanctions.
Iran’s announcement Wednesday that it now has missiles with multiple warheads only heightened Israeli concerns. The semi-official Fars news agency said the new Qiam missile was specifically built to target U.S. bases in the region. Iran already possesses missiles capable of striking Israel and parts of Europe.
Israeli officials said that Wednesday’s naval raid took place in international waters about 160 kilometres off the coast of Sudan, and came after months of painstaking intelligence work.
They said the rockets had been flown from Syria to Iran months ago, then shipped from Iran’s Bandar Abbas port to Umm Qasr, Iraq, before being loaded onto the KLOS C civilian ship destined for Sudan. From there, Israeli officials said they were to be smuggled overland through Egypt to Gaza — a route that has been used in the past.
“We have been following this shipment for a long time through impressive intelligence work,” Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, told reporters. He did not elaborate, but Israel is believed to use satellites and on-the-ground spies to collect information on its enemies.
Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said the circuitous route, stretching nearly 8,300 kilometres, was meant to conceal the shipment.
“It was an Iranian attempt to bring weapons to the Gaza Strip without leaving Iranian fingerprints,” he said. “Apparently they tried to conduct a secret operation that we managed to thwart.”
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. had been in close co-ordination with Israel throughout the mission.
“Even as we continue our efforts to resolve our concerns over Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy, we will continue to stand up to Iran’s support for destabilizing activities in the region, in co-ordination with our partners and allies,” she said.
The ship was far out at sea Wednesday and was being brought to Israel. It was expected to arrive in the Israeli port of Eilat in the coming days. Video released by the military showed Israeli soldiers on the ship inspecting the rockets, shipped in large crates. The video also showed beige bags containing cement with the words “Made in I.R. Iran,” in English, written on them.
Military officials gave no evidence to support their claim the rockets were headed to Gaza, though militant groups in the past have used Sudan as a transit point for arms shipments. The smuggling tunnels along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt traditionally used for weapons have been all but shuttered by Egypt’s new military government, making it unclear how militant groups would have been able to get the rockets into Gaza.
Officials would say only that the claim was based on firm intelligence assessments. The militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, as well as smaller groups like Islamic Jihad and al-Qaidainspired Salafist groups, all possess significant rocket arsenals.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, close to the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard force, called Israel’s claims “mere lies.” Salah Bardawil, a Hamas spokesman, said the group “knew nothing” about the Israeli claims and said they were part of “the occupation’s systematic campaign” against Gaza.