Israel Defense Forces
3/5/2014
The IDF intercepted an attempt to smuggle an Iranian shipment of advanced weaponry intended for terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. The operation took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The operation was made possible due to the combination of in-depth intelligence and enhanced operational capabilities. This shipment was meant to reach the hands of terrorist organizations in Gaza that are waging an ongoing armed conflict against Israel. These terrorist organizations systematically use such weaponry against the Israeli civilian population.
Last night, following extensive preparations, and on the government’s authorization, the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Benjamin (Benny) Gantz, ordered the Israel Navy to intercept the KLOS-C, upon which the illicit arms were concealed in between commercial cargo.
IDF special naval forces boarded the vessel, in accordance with international law, and carried out a preliminary inspection of the cargo.
They discovered numerous advanced weapons during the inspection, including M-302 surface-to-surface missiles, which are capable of reaching any point in Israel, including major population centers Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. If Palestinian terrorist organizations had gotten their hands on these weapons, they would have been able to use them to threaten millions of Israeli civilians…
The complete article, with video and photographs, is at IDFBlog.com
The course of the Iranian weapons shipment
Reports began to trickle out of the Middle East early Wednesday morning that elite Israeli commandos had stopped and boarded an Iranian vessel in the Red Sea carrying a massive arms shipment to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. A video quickly published by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) – and embedded below – indicates that Israeli intelligence had been tracking the shipment of advanced missiles since it left Syria.
From Syria the missiles had apparently traveled through Iran, and – after departing an Iranian port ten days ago – through Iraq. The Klos-C merchant ship was flagged as Panamanian and was sailed by 17 crew members from a cross-section of nationalities. The interdiction took place 1,500 kilometers off Israel’s coast, and the Israelis had reportedly been tailing the ship for several days. All 17 have been taken in for questioning, though early IDF statements suggested they were probably not aware of what they were carrying. The missiles were reportedly hidden behind cement…
