Jerusalem — Israeli naval commandos in rubber boats commandeered a cargo ship in the Red Sea hundreds of miles from Israel's shores, finding onboard 50 tons of Iranian-made weapons meant for the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli army chief said Friday.
Israel said the cache proves Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has not abandoned violence, even as U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni tried Friday to nudge the Israeli and Palestinian leaders toward a formal truce.
The Palestinian Authority vehemently denied involvement in weapons smuggling. Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Israeli allegations were a "theatrical game" intended to sabotage Zinni's mission.
The commandos were flown to the scene by helicopters in an operation some in Israel compared to the daring 1976 rescue of Israeli hostages from a hijacked airliner in Entebbe, Uganda.
From the boats, the commandos, the Israeli equivalent of U.S. Navy SEALS, scaled the 4,000-ton vessel, Karine A., and overpowered 13 crew members, Israeli sources said. Not a single shot was fired.
Zinni raised the interception at a meeting with Arafat on Friday and demanded an explanation, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.
Zinni "expressed our strong condemnation of any attempt to escalate the conflict in the region by militant groups or others," Boucher said. Arafat told the envoy he would cooperate and carry out an investigation, Boucher said.
The vessel docked late Friday at a naval base in Israel's Red Sea port of Eilat, and troops were cataloguing weapons.
Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, said a first check revealed 50 tons of weapons and ammunition, including rockets with a range of 12 miles enough to reach most areas of Israel from Palestinian-controlled territory.
The interception was carried out near the tip of the Arabian Peninsula in an area of the Red Sea surrounded by Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
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