Karine A affair

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"Operation Noah's Ark" redirects here. For the World War II operation, see Operation Noah's Ark (1944).

Karine A affair
Part of the
Second Intifada
Military equipment confiscated from MV Karine A
Planned byIsraeli Sea Corps
ObjectiveSeizure of MV Karine A
DateJanuary 3, 2002; 22 years ago (2002-01-03)
Executed byShayetet 13
OutcomeSuccess

The Karine A affair, also known as Operation "Noah's Ark" (

high explosives.[1][2][3]

Background

Prior investigation had revealed that the captain of the vessel was Colonel Omar Akawi, a

Palestinian Authority.[1][2][4] According to Lloyd's List, which tracks worldwide shipping records, the ship was purchased on August 31, 2001 from a Lebanese company by the Palestinian Authority, under the name of Adel Mughrabi.[1] The alleged purchaser of the weapons, Mughrabi (aka Adel Salameh), was a former member of Yassir Arafat's staff until the early 1980s "when he was dismissed for conducting private business which conflicted with his official status".[5]

From October 2000, Mughrabi was in contact with the Iranians and Hezbollah.[1][2][6] Mughrabi was one of the key contacts in the Palestinian weapons obtainment system. He was supported by the Palestinian Naval Police Commander Juma'a Ghali and his executive Fathi Ghazem. Their objective was to sneak in a great amount of weapons for the use of the Palestinian Authority.[1] This particular operation included the purchase and facilitating of ships, forming of a sailing crew, planning on how to store and hide the weapons, the loading of the weapons into the vessels, and the transit of it until delivered to the Palestinian Authority.[1][3][4]

The ship was then sailed to

Hodeida port in Yemen. Afterwards, the ship was loaded with weapons by the Iranians and the Hezbollah; while in transit, it was manned by personnel of the Palestinian Authority.[2] The objective was to transport the weapons to the Palestinian Naval Police near the Gaza beaches.[1][3][4]

During December 2001, Mughrabi gave the ship detailed instructions to sail to the beaches of Qeshm Island, Iran.[1][2] There a ferry approached it—most likely from Iran. This ferry contained the weapons stored in 80 large wooden crates, which were transferred onto the ship. The personnel of the ship then placed these weapons in special waterproof containers—which were produced only in Iran. These containers are floatable and have a configurable system that determines how deep they are submerged.[1]

When the loading was completed the ship needed to alter its heading towards the Hodeida port, due to technical problems.

El Arish, Egypt.[4] The commander of the Palestinian Naval Police, Juma'a Ghali and his executive Fathi Ghazem, would then collect the weapons there.[1]

Shipment

The ship itself was worth an estimated $400,000, the civilian cargo used to conceal the weapons approximately $3,000,000, and the weapons were estimated at a value of approximately $15,000,000. The shipment included the following weapons:[1][2]

  • 122 mm
    Katyusha rockets
  • 107 mm Katyusha rockets
  • 80 mm
    mortar shells
  • 120 mm mortar shells
  • Anti-tank missiles
  • Anti-tank mines
  • Sniper rifles
  • assault rifles
  • Ammunition
  • Two and a half tons of high explosives

rubber boats and diving equipment. This equipment could have facilitated seaborne attacks from Gaza against the coastal cities.[1]

Major General Yedidya Ya'ari, the commander of the Israeli Navy, reported that the weapons and equipment were packed in 83 crates, in waterproof plastic and attached to buoys, to permit their drop-off and retrieval at sea.[9]

Interception

The mission began at 04:45 on January 3, 2002, in the Red Sea, 500 kilometres (311 mi) from Israel.[2] The ship was sailing in international waters on its way to the Suez Canal.[1] Israeli Navy commandos, backed by combat helicopters and aircraft, surprised the crew and took over the vessel without firing a shot. The ship was taken to Eilat the night of January 4.[10]

Major General Shaul Mofaz, chief of staff of the IDF, announced in a Tel Aviv news conference on January 4 that the IDF had seized the ship while General Anthony Zinni was meeting with Yasser Arafat to promote negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.[10]

Aftermath

Upper part of the mast of the weapons ship Karine A, captured by the Israeli navy

Israel and the United States alleged Hezbollah had some link to the Palestinian weapons ship seized by Israel. Three Hezbollah members arrested in Jordan were attempting to smuggle Katyusha rockets to the Palestinians (the detainees were later freed by the Jordanians at the request of the Lebanese government). Another fishing vessel carrying weapons to the Palestinians was sunk off the Lebanese coast by Israel in May 2002. Israel charged that the weapons and military cargo were purchased with the help of Hezbollah. Hezbollah rejected accusations of involvement in arms shipment.[11] Israeli reports stated that the ship, purchased from Lebanon, had loaded weapons at the Iranian island of Kish in the middle of the night off the coast of Iran. It had then sailed through the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea.[12]

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat denied any involvement.[8] While the IDF maintains that the weapons were bound for the PA, other sources have suggested that the weapons may instead have been headed to Lebanon for the use of the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.[5] Some academics, such as Matthew Levitt,[13] Anthony Cordesman[14] and Efraim Karsh[15] have also supported the view that the ship was smuggling Iranian weapons to the Palestinian Authority.[8]

Israel subsequently arrested Fuad Shubaki, an Arafat aide who was in charge of finances in the PA and, as such, the mastermind behind the operation.[16] He was charged with arms dealing and establishing connections with a foreign agent, for his role in financing the weapons ship.[16] In 2006, Shubaki was taken into custody after an IDF raid on the Jericho prison where he was being held together with Ahmed Sa'adat—the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[16] They were held together with other assassins of the former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi.[16] Israel's prosecutor demanded that Shubaki must be sent to 25 years in prison, referring to the severity of his crimes. The court decided that Shubaki should be sentenced to a reduced sentence, keeping in mind his high age and health problems.[8] Shubaki was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in jail.[17][18]

After his arrest in 2006, Shubaki told the Israelis that the PA funded terror cells such as his. He estimated that between $7 and $10 million was used every two years to purchase arms for the Gaza Strip. Additionally, another $2 million was spent on weapons for the West Bank.[16] According to Shubaki the money came from both international aid to the PA, tax money Israel routinely transferred to the PA, and taxes collected from the Gaza Strip.[16] He also confessed to his relationship in the purchasing of weapons for the head of the Tanzim terror group in Gaza. The Tanzim group was known for their attacks against military installations and Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.[16]

The smuggling attempt violated agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.[2] These agreements state the amount and type of weapons that the Palestinian Authority is permitted to possess.[2]

Ayatollah Khamenei during his stay in Tehran before this incident during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation conference.[19]

Diplomatic aftermath

United States president George W. Bush felt personally betrayed by Arafat, when he had evidence that "top Palestinian officials" were involved with the Karine A, but Arafat sent a letter to Bush "denying any Palestinian involvement".[20] According to Bush: "Arafat had lied to me. I never trusted him again. In fact, I never spoke to him again. By the spring of 2002, I had concluded that peace would not be possible with Arafat in power."[21]

According to Douglas Feith, the Karine A episode hardened Vice President Dick Cheney's opinions of Yasser Arafat and convinced him that Arafat "was part of the global terrorist network."[22]

Tonga soon suspended its international ship registry but later reinstated it.[23][24]

A book entitled A Raid on the Red Sea: The Israeli Capture of the Karine A by Amos Gilboa, edited and translated by Yonah Jeremy Bob was published in 2021.[25]

See also

Similar weapons seizures from vessels en route:

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Seizing of the Palestinian weapons ship Karine A" (Press release). IDF. January 4, 2002. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Statement by IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz regarding interception of ship Karine A" (Press release). IDF. January 4, 2002. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Address by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon following the seizing of the ship Karine A". Eilat: IDF. January 6, 2002. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Griffin, Jennifer (January 7, 2002). "Prison interview with Palestinian ship captain smuggling 50 tons of weapons". Fox News. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
  5. ^ a b "The Strange Affair of Karine-A", Brian Whitaker, Guardian, January 21, 2002.
  6. ^ "Reaction of FM Peres to seizing of the Karine A". IDF. January 4, 2002. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
  7. ^ "Weapons ship mystery deepens". BBC. January 10, 2002. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  8. ^ a b c d "Man behind Karine A arms ship sentenced to 20 years in jail". Haaretz. August 30, 2009. Archived from the original on February 10, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  9. ^ "Israel Intercepts Weapons Boat Carrying Missiles, Rockets to Gaza". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. March 20, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "IDF Seizes PA Weapons Ship: The Karine A Affair". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  11. ^ Katyusha Rocket Global Security
  12. ^ Bennet, James (January 12, 2002). "Seized Arms Would Have Vastly Extended Arafat Arsenal". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  13. ^ Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, by Matthew Levitt, 2006, p. 176.
  14. ^ The Israeli-Palestinian War: Escalating to Nowhere, by Anthony H. Cordesman 2005, p. 277.
  15. ^ Arafat's War: The Man and His Battle for Israeli Conquest, by Efraim Karsh, 2004, p. 236.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Katz, Yaakov (August 30, 2009). "Mastermind of 'Karine A' given 20 years". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on August 13, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  17. ^ "Man behind Karine A arms ship sentenced to 20 years in jail". Archived from the original on February 10, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  18. ^ "Satellite News and latest stories | The Jerusalem Post". fr.jpost.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2011.
  19. ^ Mr. Ambassador: A Conversation with Mohammad Javad Zarif. Tehran: Ney Publications. p. 166.
  20. ISBN 978-0-80145147-8
    p. 164
  21. ISBN 978-0-307-59061-9
    pp. 400–401
  22. ISBN 9780553904741
    . Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  23. ^ "The ships that died of shame". smh.com.au. January 14, 2003. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  24. ^ International Transport Workers' Federation Seafarers' Section, Current registries listed as FOCs, accessed January 4, 2022. https://www.itfseafarers.org/en/focs/current-registries-listed-as-focs
  25. ^ "'A Raid on the Red Sea' Book Review: Israeli Commandos Intercept an Arms Cache Destined for Terrorists". HistoryNet. May 31, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

Further reading

  • Brig. Gen. Amos Gilboa, A Raid on the Red Sea: The Israeli Capture of the Karine A, Yonah Jeremy Bob (Editor, Translator), Potomac Books, 2021

External links

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