Israel & Iran: Lebanon Searches the "Hezbollah Arms" Ship

Israel & Iran: Just One Little Question to Danny Ayalon
Iran-Israel “Silent War”: Armed Ship Intercepted

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

The Antigua-flagged ship Fracop, intercepted by Israeli forces on Wednesday, was released yesterday by Israeli officials and given permission to continue its route. As soon as the ship reached port in Beirut, Lebanese officials detained and questioned the crew.

The Lebanese army issued a statement:

The Francop ship entered Lebanese territorial waters at noon today and, upon its arrival off Beirut port, the navy in cooperation with UN naval forces searched the vessel. Military intelligence began interrogating the crew on the motives for the seizure of the vessel while the concerned authorities... will take all the necessary measures to ensure it does not carry banned goods.

Two Birds, One Stone: Netanyahu Attacks UN & Iran

Israel-Palestine: UN General Assembly Endorses Goldstone Report on Gaza
Iran-Israel Ship Encounter: Hezbollah & Syria Call Reject Claims of Tel Aviv’s “Pirates”

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu targeted Iran and United Nations. He linked his twin targets through the incident of the ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons for Hezbollah from Iran, intercepted by Israeli forces:

The bulk of the shipment included rockets whose aim is to hurt our citizens and kill as many civilians as possible. This constitutes a war crime. This is a war crime which Iran intends to commit again in the future.

This gave Netyanahu the opportunity to slide towards his second target, a United Nations which just happened to be considering the Goldstone Report on Gaza:

The UN General Assembly should have investigated and condemned this crime [by Iran and Hezbollah] and the UN Security Council should have convened a special session to debate this incident.

The international community should be focusing on this, but instead, the world condemns Israel and the Israel Defense Forces and undermines our right to self defense [through consideration of the Goldstone Report].

Iran-Israel Ship Encounter: Hezbollah & Syria Call Reject Claims of Tel Aviv's "Pirates"

Two Birds, One Stone: Netanyahu Attacks UN & Iran
Iran-Israel “Silent War”: Armed Ship Intercepted

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

On Thursday, Hezbollah and Syria denied any connection with the ship, allegedly carrying arms from Iran, halted by Israel the previous day.

The Hezbollah statement called Israelis "pirates operating in international waters". Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem then stepped in to deny Israel's claims:

Unfortunately there are official pirates disrupting the movement of goods between Iran and Syria. I stress, the ship was not carrying Iranian arms bound for Syria, nor was it carrying material for manufacturing weapons in Syria. It was carrying [commercial] goods from Syria to Iran.

Iran-Israel "Silent War": Armed Ship Intercepted

The Latest from Iran (5 November): Riding the Wave?
Israel-Palestine: Clinton’s Cairo Visit Pushes Talks Into the Distance
Video & Transcript: Clinton Press Conference in Egypt (4 November)

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

The silent war with Iran is continuing. On Wednesday, Israeli commandos seized the Antigua-flagged civilian ship "Francop" and unloaded the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered.

According to Israeli officials, the ship was heading for Egypt, having departed from Iran with weapons destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah. They displayed what they claimed was an Iranian report.



Israel's Foreign Ministry issued an instruction to Israeli embassies and consulates around the world to use the findings on board and to turn the international community against Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:

Iran is shipping weapons to terror organizations in order to attack Israeli cities and kill its citizens. It is time that the international community applied real pressure on Iran to stop these criminal actions, and support Israel in its battle against terrorists and their patrons.

Following the conclusion of Israeli military intelligence that Hamas' armed strength has grown after the Gaza War, the "existential threat" of Iran is again on the top of Israeli agenda. With support from the US and 27-member EU support in their pocket, who can convince Israeli diplomats that Operation Cast Lead was a failure, whatever the assertions of "war crimes" in the Goldstone Report?