Gag Order Lifted on Naval Interception of Rocket Materials for Hamas

The Navy and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) intercepted a boat last January that was on its way to Gaza with materials for manufacturing rockets and mortar shells, according to military spokesmen after a gag order on the counter-terrorist operation was lifted on Wednesday.

The vessel was being used to smuggle liquid fiberglass for building weapons to be launched on Israel. The boat was sailing from off the Sinai Peninsula to a Gaza port. Israel has placed a maritime embargo on Hamas-controlled Gaza to prevent the smuggling of weapons and materials for weapons.

Security officials arrested three Arabs who confessed to planning to smuggle the liquid fiberglass for Hamas.

The three suspects were identified as Machmed Bechar, Ahmed Zaidi and Awad Zaidi.

​They gave investigators detailed information on previous weapon smuggling activities and told them how Hamas intended to utilize fisherman and smugglers for future smuggling attempts.

That explains why the Navy often fires on those supposedly innocent "fishing boats" that foreign media report were manned by poor Gaza Arabs who can't make a decent living fishing because the big bad Israeli Navy thinks fishermen are enemies.

They are enemies because they are not fishermen. They are terrorists.

The gag order on the operation was lifted when the men were indicted in a Be'er Sheva court today for involvement in crimes endangering the security of the country.

"The IDF is determined to prevent unlawful attempts to ship weapons and raw materials that may jeopardize the well being of Israelis," said Lt. Colonel Peter Lerner, IDF Spokesman. "This shipment highlights that when Hamas chose to smuggle materials for rockets and mortars, it chose not to invest in the rehabilitation for the people of Gaza."​​