In the pantheon of military achievements, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has a whole gallery to itself. Starting with the small, undermanned and underequipped militia in 1948 that defeated seven fully armed and trained Arab armies, through the 1956 Sinai Campaign, the 1967 Six Day War, the 1973 Yom Kippur War and dozens of missions worldwide over the past sixty six years (most of which are yet to be declassified). Whatever it takes, and wherever the threat, the primary role of the IDF is to protect and defend Israel.
Here are just some of the details:
- Early last Wednesday morning, IDF navy commandos of the elite “Shayetet 13” unit intercepted an Iranian shipment of advanced weaponry intended for terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip.
- The shipment was on board the Iranian cargo ship Klos-C, sailing under a Panamanian flag.
- 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 or Sinai that systematically use such weaponry against the Israeli civilian population.
- 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 rockets, which are capable of reaching any point in Israel.
- After being escorted to the Israeli port of Elat, the containers were offloaded and inventoried.
- The shipment included: 40 M-302 rockets, 181 122-mm mortars, and 400,000 7.62 caliber bullets.
- If Palestinian terrorist organizations had gotten their hands on these weapons, they would have been able to use them against millions of Israeli civilians.
The shipment had been tracked for weeks by Israeli, US and Egyptian Intelligence services, following the Syrian made rockets as they were flown from Damascus to Teheran, transported to the Iranian port of Bander- Abbas and loaded on to the Klos-C under bags of cement, together with the mortar rounds and ammunition..
The ship was monitored as it sailed to Iraq to load more cement to camouflage the real cargo, then sailed towards Port Sudan from where the arms were to be transported by truck to Gaza.
The Times of Israel reports: “Israel and the US coordinated intelligence and military activities leading up to Israel’s seizure of the Klos-C off the coast of Port Sudan, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and the State Department said Wednesday.”
“After consultations between American and Israeli officials, it was decided that Israel would act against the vessel, Shapiro told Israel Radio, even though the Pentagon had already drafted plans to intercept the ship.”
Iran’s motive for undertaking such a risky and potentially embarrassing arms smuggling venture is simple – and has nothing to do with supporting this or that terrorist group. Like the rocket stockpile Israel allegedly destroyed in an air strike in Lebanon two weeks ago, this shipment was destined for only one purpose: to retaliate against Israel when (not “if”) Israel and/or the US launches a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
It is no secret that Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system is not very effective against a barrage of the heavy, long range, M203 rockets launched simultaneously from several directions – Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and/or Sinai.
So while I have no doubt that Iran will continue to try to smuggle these “game-changing” weapons in to Lebanon, Sinai and Gaza, I have full faith that Israel and the IDF, with like-minded friends, will continue to prevent that from happening.
Agree or disagree, that’s my opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment