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

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Iran-Israel “Silent War”: Armed Ship Intercepted

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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.

Iran-Israel "Silent War": Armed Ship Intercepted

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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?