The ''Santorini'' was a fishing boat used for weapons-smuggling, which was captured in May 2001 by the
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i
Shayetet 13 Naval Commando Unit. This was the first ship caught in an attempt to smuggle weapons to Palestinian-controlled territories.
In May 2002, three of the ''Santorinis crew members were convicted of attempting to smuggle weapons into the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
.
Operation
The ship's crew was led by Captain Div Va'iza, a Lebanese citizen, and included two of his relatives, Hussein Va'iza and Fahdi Awadwas. The three were professional smugglers;
a fourth crewmember was Va’iza's son. The crew had been hired by
Ahmed Jibril
Ahmed Jibril ( ar, أحمد جبريل; April 1937 – 7 July 2021) was a Palestinian militant, the founder and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC).
During the Syrian Civil War, Jibril wa ...
's
and were asked to smuggle arms into Gaza. The crew refused the operation as too risky, but agreed instead to smuggle the arms to a location near the Egyptian
Sinai
Sinai commonly refers to:
* Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God
Sinai may also refer to:
* Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
coast, where they would be met by agents of the PFLP-GC. The crew made three failed attempts to rendezvous with the agents in Sinai and were captured on their fourth.
The ''Santorini'' had left northern Beirut On May 6, 2001, carrying weapons packed in barrels. Their plan was to drop the barrels off-shore, anchored at a pre-determined spot for later collection by Sinai-based agents.
A surveillance plane spotted the suspicious ship, and a Shayetet 13 commando team boarded the 40-ton ship near
Rosh Hanikra, just off the coast of northern Israel's border with Lebanon.
Shipment
According to the IDF, the shipment contained the following weapons:
*50
Katyusha rocket launcher
The Katyusha ( rus, Катю́ша, p=kɐˈtʲuʂə, a=Ru-Катюша.ogg) is a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver explosives to a target area ...
s
* Four
Strela 2
The 9K32 Strela-2 (russian: Cтрела, "arrow"; NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile (or MANPADS) system. It is designed to target aircraft at low altitudes with passive infrared homing guid ...
(SA-7)
antiaircraft missiles
*120
RKG anti-tank grenades
*20
rocket-propelled grenade launchers
*Two 60-mm
mortars
Mortar may refer to:
* Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon
* Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
* Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind
* Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...
*98 60-mm mortar
rounds
*62 TMA-5 land mines
*Eight
TMA-3 anti-tank land mines
*24
hand grenades
*30
Kalashnikov rifles
*116 gun cartridges for the rifles
*13,000 7.62-mm Kalashnikov bullets
Reactions
*Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command: the PFLP-GC confirmed the shipment was theirs,
with Jibril quoted on Israel's Army radio as saying "This was not the first shipment, nor will it be the last."
*Israel: Prime Minister Sharon said the event was "a very dangerous development" which "emphasises the intentions of the
alestinianauthority."
He described it as an extremely grave violation of all the agreements that Arafat signed with Israel.
*
Palestinian Authority – Palestinian Information Minister
Yasser Abed Rabbo
Yasser Abed Rabbo ( ar, ياسر عبد ربه) also known by his '' kunya'', Abu Bashar ( ar, ابو بشار) (born 17 September 1945) is a Palestinian politician and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee ...
denied any connection to the smuggling attempt, and the PA's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudaineh was quoted saying "For sure we have nothing to do with the shipment."
Aftermath
In May 2002, three of the ''Santorinis crewmembers were convicted, by a military tribunal, of attempting to smuggle weapons into Gaza.
The key legal issues were whether the weapons were destined for Gaza (over which the court had
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
J ...
, as it was then
occupied by Israel), and whether the crew knew that Gaza was to be the final destination of the shipment. The fourth crewmember, Va’iza's son, was acquitted when the court determined he had not participated in the previous three attempts and that it was not proven that he knew the ship's destination.
Notes
Photos
The Weaponry Ship - "Santorini"
{{Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Second Intifada
2001 in Israel
May 2001 events in Asia
Arms trafficking
Battles and conflicts without fatalities
Cross-border operations
Counterterrorism in Israel
Maritime incidents in Israel
Military operations of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Operations involving Israeli special forces
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