By AMY TEIBEL

November 4th, 2009

Source:

JERUSALEM — Israeli naval commandos seized an arms ship near Cyprus early Wednesday and towed it to an Israeli port, defense officials said — a rare interception that highlighted Israel’s fears that Iran is arming its enemies.

Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that the boat originated in Iran and its cargo was headed for Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon who have warred with Israel.

The defense officials said the arms cache included various missiles, including anti-tank missiles. The ship, whose weapons were being unloaded at the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, was disguised as an aid boat and was flying an Antiguan flag, they added.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the military had not yet officially released the information.

A senior Lebanese army official refused to comment on the report, saying it happened outside Lebanon’s borders and outside the country’s national waters. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement that the capture of the ship was “another success against the relentless attempts to smuggle weapons to bolster terrorist elements threatening Israel’s security.”

Military spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich said a naval unit on a routine patrol identified a cargo ship flying an Antigua flag about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Israel’s coast and intercepted it without incident. She gave no details about the weapons and munitions on board or about the ship’s crew.

The boat was the second arms ship Israel has intercepted in its fight against efforts to smuggle weapons to Palestinian and Lebanese militants.

In January 2002, Israeli forces stormed the Karine-A freighter as it was sailing on the Red Sea, and confiscated what the military said was 50 tons of weapons headed for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The Lebanon-Israel border has been largely quiet since Israel and Hezbollah fought a fierce war in the summer of 2006. But Israel has long warned that Hezbollah fighters have been rearming and now possess some 40,000 rockets.

Gaza militants also have dramatically reduced their rocket attacks on southern Israel since a bruising winter war. But militants continue to smuggle in rockets and components through underground tunnels with Egypt, the Israeli military says.

On Tuesday, the head of military intelligence said Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers recently test-fired a missile capable of striking Israel’s largest urban center, metropolitan Tel Aviv.