Israeli Troops Unload Iranian Weapons Ship Bound for Gaza
Image by Getty Images
Israeli military forces began unloading and searching the cargo of an Iranian ship captured in the Red Sea carrying weapons bound for Gaza.
The civilian vessel the Klos C, which was carrying the weapons, including medium-range missiles capable of hitting major Israeli cities, hidden amid commercial cargo, arrived in the Eilat port on Saturday afternoon, escorted by Israeli naval vessels.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the capture of the ship at the beginning of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday.
“The operation to seize the ship had two goals: Preventing the delivery of deadly weapons to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, which would have directly endangered Israel’s citizens, and exposing the true face of Iran, which was behind this weapons shipment,” Netanyahu said. “Iran completely denies its involvement; it is lying in the most brazen manner. We will present evidence of this tomorrow and later.”
Israeli forces uncovered dozens of advanced Syrian-made rockets hidden on board the cargo vessel registered in Panama during a brief search in the Red Sea. The weapons reportedly were loaded on in Iran and were scheduled to be unloaded at a port in Sudan, from where they were to be driven on a truck through Egypt to Gaza.
Netanyahu also addressed his comments to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is currently visiting Tehran.
“I would like to ask her if she asked her Iranian hosts about this shipment of weapons for terrorist organizations, and if not, why not. Nobody has the right to ignore the true and murderous actions of the regime in Tehran,” Netanyahu said Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday deployed an Iron Dome anti-missile battery system in Eilat to protect the area, following the docking of the Klos C there.
The IDF said it would bring out the rockets and other weaponry for public viewing from the 150 cargo containers aboard the vessel in the next two days.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
