Israeli forces in the Red Sea intercepted a Gaza-bound ship loaded with advanced weapons from Iran on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Dozens of Syrian-made M302 rockets were found on the Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel named Klos C.
Military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner told Reuters the 17-member crew did not resist when Israeli navy forces boarded the ship. Admiral Ram Rothberg, Israel's navy chief, found a rocket on the ship next to cement bags that said "Made in Iran" in English.
The Iranian government was supplying the weapons to Palestinian guerrillas, Israel's military told Reuters. The rockets are powerful enough to strike Israel from the Gaza Strip, giving significant power to Hamas members.
"The M302 in its most advanced model can strike over 100 miles, and if they would have reached Gaza, ultimately that would have meant millions of Israelis under threat," Lerner told Reuters.
At the same time the ship was captured, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the U.S. lobbying for stronger sanctions against Iran to make sure its nuclear weapons program is not supporting guerrilla groups, Reuters reported.
Netanyahu gave the OK for the ship's capture after a meeting at the White House.
"At the same time that it is talking to world powers, at the same time that Iran is smiling and saying all kinds of honeyed words, that same Iran is sending lethal weaponry to terrorist organizations and it is doing so in a complex web of covert, worldwide operations," Netanyahu said from Los Angeles on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Hamas said Israel's claims that its citizens were under threat are a "silly joke."
"This is a new Israeli lie aimed to justify and prolong the blockade of Gaza," Taher Al-Nono, an advisor of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, told Reuters.
Syria did not immediately offer a comment.
