Israel Turkey Turkish/Israeli Relations Weapon Sales to Israel's enemies Weapons Blockade of Gaza

IDF SEIZE IRANIAN WEAPONS ON SHIP BOUND FROM TURKEY TO GAZA…….

The Iranian-Syrian-Hamas nexus laid bare for the world to see. Thanks to Carl from J’lem for the hat tip. KGS

UPDATE: The TT was in a bloggers’ conference call with an IDF spokesman who stated the following details surrounding the boarding of the freighter Vicotria, by special forces Navy commandos. IDF Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich:

Early this morning, Navy commandos from the IDF went on board the vessel called the Victoria. The vessel is German owned, the operating company is French and the flag it was flying under was Liberian. We had some information that this vessel was carrying some weaponry, and after we inspected some of the containers aboard, we found that some of the containers included weaponry.

At this time the vessel is being escorted by the Israeli navy to one of the ports in Israel. When it will reach the port it will undergo further examination of the cargo. I can tell you that the port of origin of the ship was Latakia Syria, it also passed through a port in Turkey and we understand that the final destination of the ship would be Alexandria  in Egypt.

We believe that neither Egypt or Turkey had any connection to this event, we understand that Syria is the main actor here  together with Iran the intention was to bring those different types of weaponry into Gaza, to serve Hamas in their terrorist activities against Israel. This is the information I can share with you. Thank you.

There was a brief Q&A afterwards, where the following was mentioned: The kinds of weapons found could’t be shared at the time, but the main point here is not the kinds of weapons that will be found, but that they’ll be used against the people of Israel. Hamas is actively seeking more weapons which highlights the need for Israel to keep enforcing its legal anti-weapons blockade on the Hamas run Gaza Strip. The spokesperson also mentioned that the Germans, french and Liberians were notified about the seizure, there isn’t any indication that they knew of the weapons.

They were informed of the cargo after the initial search of the three containers which had weapons. The Spokesman reaffirmed the tight cooperation between the Iranians and the Syrians in this smuggling attempt, plus that there’s not any information as to whether the two Iranian ships that passed through the Suez are tied to this. Also noteworthy was that the boarding took place two hundred nautical miles west of Israel, and that the other countries were notified after the boarding.

IDF seizes freighter of Iranian weapons headed to Gaza

By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF
03/15/2011 12:25

The “Victoria” departed from Turkey, destined for El-Arish, where weapons from Iran would be smuggled to Hamas; ship boarded by Naval Commando 13, expected to arrive in Ashdod.

The IDF seized a freighter ship with dozens of tons of weaponry from Iran headed for Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The ship, known as Victoria, was flying a Liberian flag, and was seized by the navy in the Meditteranean Sea, 200 miles off of Israel’s coast.

The Victoria was boarded by commandos from the Israely Navy’s Flotilla 13, also known as the Shayetet, and is expected to arrive in the Ashdod port on Tuesday evening.

An initial inspection of the cargo revealed the ship was carrying weapons. The exact amount is to be determined.

The crew, questioned by the Navy Commando, was not aware that the cargo contained weaponry.

The ship set sail last night from Turkey, and was expected to dock in Alexandria. There, it was supposed to unload the weapons, which would travel by land to Gaza. The IDF’s assessment is that the weapons did not originate in Turkey, but that the containers were unloaded there and transferred onto the Victoria .

More here.

6 Responses

  1. Thanks for posting this so quickly KGS. Turkey is radicalizing! I think it’s time for the Turkish army to ditch Erdogan.

    1. the Turks very well could be involved in this…lets wait and see.

      1. Yes, same goes for their role in the Gaza flotilla. Although I’m not a big fan of the idea that Turkey will join the EU, I do hope that the Turks don’t end up with an Islamist regime.

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