Israeli naval commandos seized a fishing boat from Lebanon carrying Hezbollah operatives and loaded with rocket fuses, electronic bombmaking devices and instructions on putting together explosives belts for suicide bombings, according to Israeli newspapers.
Israel National News reports the soldiers captured the ship in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea on its way to the Gaza Strip.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the boat, called the Abu Hassan, was intercepted on a regular shipping route off the northern Israeli coast early Tuesday morning, but news of the capture was delayed by military censors.
Among the eight people on board were two members of the Hezbollah terror group, including Hamed Amsalem Abu Amra, an expert bomb maker who is suspected of planning to share his expertise with Palestinian terrorists, according to Israel’s Ha’aretz.
Israeli Defense Forces recovered “suspicious objects” onboard, including “evidence of transfer of know-how and directives for carrying out terror attacks.” Specifically, the boat’s cargo included 36 CD-ROM disks containing bombmaking training manuals, 25 detonators for rockets, 15 electronic-delay units and a radio-activation system for remote-control bombs.
The Abu Hassan originated out of an Egyptian port on May16 and picked up its cargo and Abu Amra in Beirut.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom claims Palestinians close to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat are behind the terror-supply ship.
“There is no doubt that those involved in the affair are very close to Arafat,” Shalom told Channel One television.
Israeli military officials suspect two Palestinian officials, Adel Almairibi and Fathi Razam, a naval commander and aide to Arafat, were involved in the operation. Both were involved in the Karine-A arms smuggling in January 2002.
WorldNetDaily reported the 4,000-ton Palestinian arms freighter was intercepted with a cargo of 50 tons of weapons destined for the Palestinian Authority. The 83 crates contained long and short range Katyusha rockets, with a maximum 20-km range, anti-tank Lao and Sagger missiles, 120-mm mortars and an abundance of heavy machine guns, rifles, mines, explosives and ammunition.
WorldNetDaily reported Israeli intelligence officers presented evidence to U.S. Defense officials showing the Palestinian Authority’s preventive security chief in the Gaza Strip and one of Arafat’s most senior lieutenants, Mohamed Dahlan, was present in the emirate of Dubai when the Karine-A arrived and supervised the loading of the contraband munitions.
WND also reported Palestinian, Israeli and American intelligence officials learned Saudi sources financed the Karine-A haul, paying $10 million to Iran.
Israeli security forces say there has been a recent increase in terror activity from the sea.
News of the terror-supply ship comes as Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met with leaders of the militant Islamic group Hamas to try and persuade them to cease attacks on Israel.
Hamas claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings over the past week that killed nine Israelis.
Following the meeting, the Hamas spokesman said the group may entertain a limited truce, which would involve a halt in attacks on Israeli civilians, but not settlers and soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The truce is contingent on Israel ending its policy of targeted killings aimed at Hamas activists and other members of terror groups.
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WND Staff