Tuesday, February 09 2010

Middle East

Israel seizes arms shipment 'bound for Hizbollah'

By Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem

Thursday November 05 2009

Israel intercepted the largest arms shipment it has seized after commandos boarded a Lebanon-bound vessel off Cyprus yesterday.

Officials said the seizure provided the most tangible evidence yet of large-scale Iranian military support for Hizbollah, the Lebanon-based guerrilla movement that fought a war with Israel in 2006.

Israeli naval officers boarded the vessel shortly before dawn to discover a cargo that included hundreds of Katyusha rockets and anti-tank missiles, according to military officials.

A spokesman for the Israeli armed forces said cargo certificates showed that the vessel, sailing under an Antiguan flag, captained by a Pole and operating under the guise of an aid ship, had started its journey from an Iranian port.

Hizbollah offered no immediate comment. The discovery came a day after Israel's intelligence chief claimed that Hamas, which controls Gaza, had acquired an Iranian-made rocket that brought Tel Aviv within striking range for the first time.

Israel has recently downplayed the possibility of launching a unilateral strike against Iran's nuclear installations.

Israel's new-found reticence is seen by some observers as evidence of a deal under which the US will soften its demand for a total freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The US stance has caused anger in the Arab world and American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced a wave of hostility on a tour of the Middle East amid accusations that Washington had given in to Israel.

The row over settlements has damaged the prospects for a possible renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

However,a top level Israeli government official said last night that Israel had drawn up a secret offer proposing greater restrictions on settlement construction than the government had so far been prepared to countenance. (© The Telegraph, London)

- Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem

Irish Independent

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