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Israel Navy Intercepts Ship it Said Bound for Hizbullah
Israel”s military radio said Wednesday that the Israeli navy intercepted a ship carrying weapons bound for Hizbullah.
An Israeli military spokeswoman, however, declined to comment on the report.
The report said the shipment, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets, was from Iran, bound for Hizbullah.
The Israeli spokeswoman said the ship was intercepted 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) off its coastline overnight.
"During the night a special marine force intercepted a ship that was supposed to be carrying cargo around 100 (nautical) miles from our shore," she said, adding that the ship was sailing under an Antigua flag.
"We suspected it was carrying weapons and when we inspected it that turned out to be true," she said, pointing that the ship has been taken to port for further investigation.
The military declined to say what kind of weapons were on board or where the ship was heading.
Israel”s Defense Minister Ehud Barak hailed the operation, calling it a "new success in our struggle against weapons smuggling aimed at reinforcing terrorist organizations that are threatening the security of Israel."
His remarks were carried in a defense ministry statement that said the ship was captured "near Cyprus" but did not provide further details.
Israel has long accused arch-foes Syria and Iran of supplying weapons to Hizbullah and to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement since June 2007.
On Tuesday, a senior Israeli general warned that Hamas had successfully test-fired a rocket out to sea capable of reaching Tel Aviv from Gaza.
The rocket, believed to be Iranian-made, has a range of about 60 kilometers (37 miles), putting Israel”s major population centers in range, said Major General Amos Yadlin, head of military intelligence.
Hamas called the claim a "fabrication" designed to mobilize world opinion against the Islamist group before the U.N. General Assembly which was on Wednesday to discuss a controversial report on the Gaza war.
"This is a pre-emptive step by the Zionist enemy to influence international opinion," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said, adding that the report had put Israel in a state of "crisis."