The Israelis said the Iranians got rockets from Syria and then sent them by sea with the intention of smuggling them through Egypt into Gaza:
Israeli naval forces on Wednesday seized a ship laden with rockets allegedly bound for militants in the Gaza Strip, and officials accused Iran of orchestrating the delivery in an elaborate 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) journey that included covert stops across the region.
The Syrian-made M-302 rockets would have put Israel's biggest cities well within range of Gaza, where militants already possess thousands of less powerful rockets.
I'd like to know why the Israelis think the rockets are bound for Gaza rather than Hezbollah in Lebanon.
If I was guessing, I'd think that this was an effort to avoid those apparently effective Israeli air raids on efforts to move long-range rockets from Syria overland to Lebanon.
But Israel says Gaza was the destination. I suppose the Israelis could be saying Hamas just to disguise how they found out and tracked the shipment.
The world goes on even as my particular focus remains on the Crimean Subliminal War.
UPDATE: More on the interception and policy. Note that we appear to have helped the Israelis track the ship.
Remember, the interim deal with Iran--as farcical as it is in thinking that we can talk Iran out of nuclear weapons (the Ukraine Lesson, anyone?)--is also supposed to lead a new era in US-Iranian relations as partners.
Unless the Iranians succeed in making us their partner in destroying Israel, I'm not clear on how this works.
