WarSclerotic

1921 – 2011

My mother passed away on Thursday, March 17 and was laid to rest Yesterday, March 21.  I ask my readers’ understanding if the blog is somewhat sparse this week as I sit shiva ( Jewish week of mourning.)  – Joseph Wouk

Grad rocket hits Ashkelon – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Rocket fired from Gaza explodes in southern city, causing a number of residents to suffer shock but no damage. Elderly woman also injured while taking cover. Residents tell Ynet blast was very loud. ‘Even my table shook,’ one says

Shmulik Hadad

A rocket thought to be of the Grad type exploded in southern Ashkelon Sunday, causing a number of bystanders to suffer shock. An elderly woman was also lightly injured while attempting to take cover. No damage was reported.

Security forces are searching for the rocket, which is believed to have exploded in the city’s southern industrial zone.

Residents were startled late Sunday by the rocket alarm, immediately followed by a loud explosion. “Even my table shook,” one resident told Ynet.

Another resident told Ynet, “We heard the alarm and went into the shelter, and just succeeded in closing the door when we heard a very loud blast. The whole building shook and I thought it must have fallen in our neighborhood.”

David Mahlof, who also resides in Ashkelon, told Ynet he was in the car with his family when the rocket hit. “We have a baby and as we were taking him out of the car we heard the blast, before we could get to a shelter. It was a miracle nothing happened to us,” he said.

Paramedics treated residents who suffered shock on the scene, and evacuated one woman to Barzilai Hospital.

Earlier in the day Ashkelon Municipality discussed whether or not to hold the traditional Purim parade celebrated throughout Israel, and decided to allow it. Residents were advised to keep alert, however.

Tensions have been rising on the Gaza border in recent days. Exchanges of fire between IDF soldiers and Palestinians were reported at around noon Sunday near the Al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza.

During the fighting, Palestinians fired an anti-tank missile at a Merkava 4 tank, which is equipped with the “Windbreaker” defense system. The system intercepted the missile, and IDF forces responded with artillery fire.

On Saturday, 49 mortar shells were fired into Israel from Gaza, prompting the IDF to strike several targets across the Strip. Two Israelis sustained light injuries from the mortar fire.

Syrian protesters torch Baath party headquarters.

The demonstrators also set ablaze the main courts complex and two phone company branches. One of the firms, Syriatel, is owned by President Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf.

“They burned the symbols of oppression and corruption,” an activist said. “The banks nearby were not touched.”

Earlier, Syrian security forces killed a protester in Deraa, residents said, as the authorities tried to contain three days of protests demanding freedoms and the release of political prisoners.

Raed al-Kerad was shot dead in the new part of Deraa, where gunfire is still being heard, residents said. He is the fifth civilian killed by security forces since protests against Syria’s ruling elite erupted in Deraa on Friday.

Thousands of Syrians demanded an end to 48 years of emergency law on Sunday. “No. No to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom,” marchers chanted as a government delegation arrived in the southern town of Deraa to pay condolences for victims killed by security forces in demonstrations there this week.

Syria has been ruled under emergency law since the Baath Party, which is headed by President Assad, took power in a 1963 coup and banned all opposition.

The government sought to appease popular discontent in Deraa by promising to release 15 schoolchildren whose arrests for scrawling protest graffiti had helped fuel the demonstrations.

An official statement said the children, who had written slogans inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt on walls, would be released immediately. The statement was a rare instance of Syria’s ruling hierarchy responding to popular pressure.

Security forces opened fire on Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa demanding the release of the children, political freedoms and an end to corruption. Four people were killed.

On Saturday thousands of mourners called for “revolution” at the funeral of two of the protesters. Officials later met Deraa notables who presented then with a list of demands, most importantly the release of political prisoners.

The list demands the dismantling of the secret police headquarters in Deraa, dismissal of the governor, a public trial for those responsible for the killings and scrapping of regulations requiring permission from the secret police to sell and buy property. Non-violent protests have challenged the Baath Party’s authority this month, following the uprisings that toppled the autocratic leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, with the largest protests in Deraa drawing thousands of people.

The city is a centre of the Hauran region, once a bread basket that also been affected by diminishing water levels in Syria, with yields falling by a quarter in Deraa last year.

Deraa is also home to thousands of displaced people from eastern Syria, where up to a million people have left their homes because of a water crisis over the past six years. Experts say state mismanagement of resources has worsened the crisis.

Thousands of Syrians protest for 3rd straight day.

DAMASCUS – Thousands of Syrians demanded an end to 48 years of emergency law on Sunday, a third straight day of protests emerging as the biggest challenge to Syria‘s rulers since unrest swept the Arab world this year.

“No. No to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom,” marchers chanted as a government delegation arrived in the southern town of Deraa to pay condolences for victims killed by security forces in demonstrations there this week.

Syria has been ruled under emergency law since the Baath Party, which is headed by president Bashar Assad, took power in a 1963 coup and banned all opposition.

The government sought to appease popular discontent in Deraa by promising to release 15 schoolchildren whose arrests for scrawling protest graffiti had helped fuel the demonstrations.

An official statement said the children, who had written slogans inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt on walls, would be released immediately. The statement was a rare instance of Syria’s ruling hierarchy responding to popular pressure.

Security forces opened fire on Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa demanding the release of the children, political freedoms and an end to corruption. Four people were killed.

On Saturday thousands of mourners called for “revolution” at the funeral of two of the protesters. Officials later met Deraa notables who presented then with a list of demands, most importantly the release of political prisoners.

The list demands the dismantling of the secret police headquarters in Deraa, dismissal of the governor, a public trial for those responsible for the killings and scrapping of regulations requiring permission from the secret police to sell and buy property. Non-violent protests have challenged the Baath Party’s authority this month, following the uprisings that toppled the autocratic leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, with the largest protests in Deraa drawing thousands of people.

The city is a centre of the Hauran region, once a bread basket that also been affected by diminishing water levels in Syria, with yields falling by a quarter in Deraa last year.

Deraa is also home to thousands of displaced people from eastern Syria, where up to a million people have left their homes because of a water crisis over the past six years. Experts say state mismanagement of resources has worsened the crisis.

‘World powers still mishandling Iran’s nuclear program’.

The world’s powers continue to mishandle the Iranian nuclear threat – and the optimal time for striking at Tehran’s nuclear program has long passed – according to two leading Israeli authorities on Iran’s nuclear program.

Emily Landau and Giora Eiland – both senior research fellows at the Institute of National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University (INSS) – said in a briefing with a small group of journalists Thursday that while Iran’s goals are clear, the solutions to its nuclear designs are much less obvious.

“We’re in a state of limbo,” said Landau, director of arms control and regional security at the INSS. “Nothing is happening right now on Iran.”

Landau contrasted Tehran’s unambiguous nuclear ambitions with the disparate, often conflicting, interests of the so-called P5+1 Countries – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Germany, who have led efforts to confront the Islamic Republic’s nuclear drive.

“There’s basically no plan,” Landau said. “Every state in the P5+1 is following its own national interest. Iran is one part of the national interest of each, and it’s not necessarily number one – and maybe not number two, three or four.”

“The name of Iran’s game over the last eight years has been playing for time,” she continued.

It’s clear Iran is pursuing military nuclear capability, and “it’s less relevant whether Iran wants to develop nuclear warheads, put them on missiles and deploy them – or whether it’s going for a Japan model,” Landau concluded.

Though not actively pursuing a nuclear weapons program, Japan has the technology and know-how to produce nuclear weapons within about six months, according to experts.

For non-proliferation efforts against Iran to progress, Landau said the US will have to drastically change its diplomatic mindset.

“Negotiating with Iran on the nuclear issue is not the same as negotiating with it to improve US-Iranian relations,” Landau said. “This is not about engagement and confidence-building… The nuclear issue is going to be a hard bargain.”

She listed three elements to improving US policy in Iran.

First, Washington must apply more forceful sanctions backed by a credible threat of consequences, should Iran violate them. Second, she said the US has to show it’s “in the driver’s seat” to determine the time and place of negotiations – and setting its own terms in “framing” those negotiations. Third, the US must be clearer about the incentives it plans to offer the Islamic Republic for ceasing its nuclear activity.

Landau also spoke about containment: the idea that the West can live with a nuclear Iran as it did with the USSR and China. The problem, she said, is that deterring a nuclear state from using its weapons depends on the existence of a credible threat – and US credibility with Iran is at its lowest point in years.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said last week that the world must make clear that Iran would face “credible military action” if sanctions do not shut down Tehran’s nuclear program.

In an interview with CNN, he said it was clear Iran was pursuing its nuclear ambitions despite international sanctions, and was getting closer to obtaining weapons of mass destruction.

“They have enriched enough material now almost for three nuclear bombs,” he said. “The only thing that will work is if Iran knew that if sanctions fail there will be a credible military option.”

Netanyahu said if military action were taken, he would prefer it be led by the US.

Eiland, a retired IDF majorgeneral and former national security adviser, told journalists the most auspicious time for confronting Iran’s nuclear program was three years ago.

“Most of the important assets were located in a few key sites, and poorly protected,” he said. “Iran didn’t – and still doesn’t – have very advanced air defense systems. From a purely military point of view, the best timing was three years ago. Unfortunately, from a political point of view, it wasn’t quite so good, and therefore wasn’t considered.”

Eiland also outlined four key questions Israel must ask itself before embarking on a strike of Iranian facilities.

First is a question of whether Jerusalem has reliable intelligence about Iran’s principal nuclear facilities and targets. Assuming it does, secondly, he added, Israel must determine whether it has the ability to send enough sorties to attack those targets.

Third, it must decide whether it is feasible to fly over hostile countries like Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

More important than the other variables, Eiland said, is the question of results.

“Let’s assume we’re successful in questions one, two and three. Then what?” he asked. “What would be the real damage that would be caused to the Iranians? What would be the delay that we would produce for the Iranians in producing nuclear weapons? If it’s only weeks and months, it’s insufficient. If years, it may be worthwhile.”

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

DEBKAfile Special Report March 19, 2011, 10:48 PM (GMT+02:00)

USS Providence firing cruise missiles

Twenty French fighter jets destroyed a number of tanks in Benghazi Saturday, March 19, in the first shots of the Western-Arab operation authorized by the UN Security Council 1973 against Muammar Qaddafi, soon joined by British jet fighters. After the US stated it would not take part in the first action or send troops, a US submarine and UK warships fired 112 Tomahawk missiles at 20 Libyan targets east of Tripoli, among them the Libyan army’s supreme command center near the town of Sirte and air defenses. Casualties have not been reported.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US would provide the coalition operation with support by its “unique assets.”

This is the first time in 25 years, that the US had attacked the Qaddafi regime.

The mission is under the operational control of the US Africa command. Libya State TV says coalition attacks have killed civilians.

debkafile‘s military sources report that during the last 24 hours, Qaddafi has dispersed thousands of his soldiers and diehard loyalists at military sites liable to be struck from the air or sea. Thousands of men, women and children waving green flags are gathered at his compound in Tripoli; the Khamis 32 Brigade entered Benghazi in the morning and lined up along its main thoroughfare, the Gemal Abdul Nasser street. The elite brigade was positioned at the heart of the rebel stronghold so that coalition jet bombers and warships could not strike them without substantial collateral civilian casualties.
Trucks and buses scattered more civilians along the country’s main highways and intersections and the runways of Libyan Air force air bases.
A seaborne missile attack on the Libyan coast was indicated by the arrival in the Mediterranean of the nuclear assault submarine USS Providence last Monday, March 14. This sub has played a part in every important US missile offensive in the last decade, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq as well as important missions in Afghanistan. The score of coalition ranged opposite Libyan shores at present include the USS Kearsage marine helicopter carrier, the Amphibious Transport Docks and the USS Ponce, USS Barry and USS Mason guided missile destroyers.
Earlier Saturday, March 19, debkafile reported:

debkafile‘s special sources report that French warplanes went into attack formation over Libya Saturday afternoon, March 19, without waiting for 22 world powers meeting in Paris to issue a communiqué confirming a military operation against Muammar Qaddafi in line with the UN Security Council resolution. It was agreed that France, Britain, Norway, Qatar and Canada would take part in the offensive with 31 targets planned for first stage, 2 military airfields and Qaddafi’s palace in the second and Libyan forces in the third. Britain and France have imposed a sea blockade on Libyan shores. French defense officials says French fighter jet has fired on a Libyan military vehicle. Twenty planes taking part in mission.
As the operation began, Washington issued a special statement say that the US is not involved in the first action but plans sea-launched missile attackswithout offering a timeline. It was initially assumed thatan American sea attack on Col. Qaddafi will take place at a later stage of the military operation, but another comment by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after attending the Paris conference further reduced that option too. She said that American would support its allies wit its exclusive resources in enforcing UN Resolution 1973, making no mention of sea-launched missiles.

The coalition of powers plans to expand its operations in the next 24 hours and then wait to see how Qaddafi responds.

The Libyan ruler last week threatened retaliation against the military and civilian targets of any nations attacking him in Europe and the Middle East. Saturday, he warned the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British premier David Cameron they would regret leading the group attacking his country.

Western intelligence experts calculate that he may he decide to strike back at French and British Middle East targets by air might, missiles and special forces, as well possibly as hitting civilian locations inside France. If this happens, the Americans are expected to join the anti-Qaddafi operation using their naval and air forces.
debkafile‘s military sources report that the Libyan ruler extensively prepared himself for attack in recent weeks, scattering his warplanes and ground forces in desert hideouts to minimize their vulnerability.
He, his family and elite officials have most likely gone to ground in secret hideouts.

In the last month, he bought up vast quantities of anti-air and other missile systems and sophisticated electronic hardware in order to withstand the offensive against him.

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) — The U.S. military has launched its first missiles in Libya against Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, a senior Defense Department official said Saturday.

Earlier, French fighter jets deployed over Libya fired at a military vehicle on Saturday, the country’s first strike against Moammar Gadhafi’s military forces who earlier attacked the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

U.S. Tomahawk missiles have landed in the western area around Tripoli and Misrata, the American military official said.

“He’s clearly been on the offensive,” the official said of Gadhafi. “He said that he was going to do a cease-fire and he continued to move his forces into Benghazi.”

The military official said the attacks on Gadhafi’s forces will be part of a multiphase approach in a sequential and deliberate manner.

“The U.S. will be at the front end of this, providing the unique capabilities that the U.S has,” the official said.

While French jets launched the first attacks on Gadhafi’s forces, Americans jets will be part of the enforcement. “When this commences, we’ll have American aircraft involved,” the official said.

The French Defense Ministry said its attack aircraft being used to take out tanks and artillery have deemed Benghazi and the surrounding area an “exclusion zone.”

The French are using surveillance aircraft and two frigates in the operation to protect civilians. The aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle will soon depart Toulon, France.

“Our air force will oppose any aggression by Colonel Gadhafi against the population of Benghazi,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking after an international, top-level meeting in Paris over the Libyan crisis.

“As of now, our aircraft are preventing planes from attacking the town,” he said, calling the intervention a “grave decision.”

The international show of force is much welcomed by besieged rebel forces who have called for backup to help them stave off a government offensive against their positions in Benghazi and other rebel-held enclaves

An opposition spokesman in Benghazi said Gadhafi forces that assaulted the city earlier Saturday are now positioned outside the town. However, the forces are preparing for more attacks.

Western and Arab allies were coordinating the use of military assets to thwart Gadhafi’s offensive.

Canada will be one of four principal partners helping to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya. Six Canadian CF-18 fighter jets are en route to an Italian base in Sicily and the HMCS Charlottetown will be in position to help with the naval blockade against Libya.

British officials held a crisis meeting Saturday evening.

The United States continued to broadcast the message that it is a member of, and is assisting, the coalition, rather than taking the lead role.

“America has unique capabilities, and we will bring them to bear to help our European and Canadian allies and Arab partners to stop further violence against civilians including through the effective implementation of a no-fly zone,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

Sarkozy said Gadhafi still has time to stop its activities. As of Friday, France, Britain, the United States and Arab League nations passed along a warning for Gadhafi to stop his operations immediately.

But “Gadhafi has totally ignored the warning” and “in the last few hours his forces have stepped up their deadly offenses,” Sarkozy said.

The international coalition meeting in Paris — which included Western and Arab partners — focused on how to take on a Libyan government bent on destroying the fledgling opposition movement under the U.N. resolution authorizing force to protect civilians against the Gadhafi government.

Speaking from Brasilia, Brazil, U.S. President Barack Obama said the international coalition was united. “Our consensus was strong and our resolve is clear. The people of Libya must be protected.”

Asked whether the decision to carry out bombing against Libyan forces could begin immediately after Saturday’s session ends, a senior State Department official said: “In terms of when the bombing starts, I’ll leave that for others to lay out at the appropriate time.

“Everybody recognizes the urgency,” he said.

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, said the European Union is ready to give a “new Libya” economic help and aid in building new institutions.

In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s office confirmed to CNN that Berlusconi has proposed the use of the NATO base in southern Italy as a command center for allied action in Libya.

Clinton said despite talk of a cease-fire from Libya, Moammar Gadhafi “continues to defy the world.”

“His attacks on civilians go on,” she told reporters Saturday.

But after Gadhafi forces earlier Saturday assaulted Benghazi, the opposition said the military repositioned itself far outside the city.

Earlier Saturday, incoming artillery rounds landed inside the city, and pro-Gadhafi tanks rolled into the town firing rounds, witnesses said. Plumes of smoke rose in Benghazi as civilians said buildings came under small arms fire. Many fled their homes in fear of a full-blown assault there.

A flaming fighter jet plummeted from the sky, nose-diving to the ground. Khaled el-Sayeh, the opposition military spokesman, said the plane was an old MiG-23 that belonged to the rebels.

But as night fell over Benghazi on Saturday, the city became quiet and calm. While plumes of smoke could be spotted, the pro-Gadhafi tanks seen earlier were not in sight. El-Sayeh told CNN that “tens” have been killed in Benghazi on Saturday and opposition forces found 13 men clad in Libyan military uniforms bound and executed in a building that had been used by pro-Gadhafi forces to launch artillery assaults.

He said Gadhafi forces have withdrawn from the city and that they are now positioned 50 kilometers (31 miles) outside Benghazi on the road east to Ajdabiya. CNN could not independently verify those details.

In western Libya, pro-Gadhafi forces subjected the city of Misrata to heavy shelling, an opposition member said.

In Tripoli, Gadhafi’s supporters took to the streets.

Libyan state TV now showed images of pro-Gadhafi demonstrations, and broadcast pictures of fireworks by pro-Gadhafi demonstrators over the Libyan leader’s military compound in Tripoli. On the streets in Tripoli, people were waving green Libyan flags and singing pro-Gadhafi songs.

Earlier Saturday, Gadhafi issued defiant messages to international powers

“I have all the Libyan people with me and I’m prepared to die. And they are prepared to die for me. Men, women and even children,” Gadhafi said in a letter addressed to Obama and read to reporters by a government spokesman in Tripoli on Saturday.

Fighting has raged in Libya over the last day despite the government’s announcement of an “immediate” cease-fire on Friday.

The declaration — which came hours after the U.N. Security Council resolution authorized the use of force, including a no-fly zone — was seen by rebels as simply a move to buy itself time.

Gadhafi — in a separate letter addressed to Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — called the U.N. moves “invalid” because the resolution does not permit intervention in the internal affairs of other countries.

“Libya is not yours. Libya is for all Libyans,” said the letter, also read by the spokesman. “You will regret it if you take a step toward intervening in our internal affairs.

“It is not your country. We could never and would never fire one bullet against our people,” the letter said.

Violence has raged in Libya following protests calling for democracy and freedom and demanding an end to Gadhafi’s almost 42-year-long rule. It’s a conflict spurred by anti-government protest and resulting regime violence against civilians — which the U.N. resolution cites as “outrageous” and Sarkozy calls “murderous madness.”

But Gadhafi defended his actions in his note to Obama. He said his opponents are from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the group’s North African wing, and asked Obama what he would do if such an armed movement controlled American cities.

“Tell me, how would you behave so I could follow your example?”

The civil war has hurt Libya’s oil production, which Shokri Ghanem, the nation’s oil minister, called “our most important source of income and our lifeblood.”

Speaking to reporters in Tripoli on Saturday, he said the abandoment of the work force amid the conflict is the main reason for a drop in production.

He said Libya wants to restore its fields and increase production. He stressed that Libya is honoring all its commitments despite the conflict and asked foreign and local employees to return.

CNN’s Arwa Damon, Chris Lawrence, Jill Dougherty, Elise Labott, Jim Bittermann, Paula Newton and Nic Robertson contributed to this report

Hamas seeking to divert attention from challenges.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
03/19/2011 20:30

Analysis: Mortar attacks are aimed at dragging Israel into a military offensive that is needed by Hamas to rally the Palestinian public behind it.

The mortar attacks on Israel over the weekend are designed to divert attention from Hamas’s growing problems inside the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas leadership has been under heavy pressure as a result of mass demonstrations in the Gaza Strip demanding an end to the Hamas-Fatah dispute.

After failing to prevent the demonstrations, Hamas authorities began cracking down on the organizers, political foes and journalists.

Hamas believes that the demonstrations are being organized by Fatah as part of an attempt to undermine the Islamist movement.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum on Saturday accused Fatah and its allies of exploiting the calls for Palestinian unity to destabilize the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The first sign of Hamas’s increased nervousness was evident last week when dozens of the movement’s undercover police officers attacked thousands of demonstrators who were participating in a Facebook-initiated rally to demand Palestinian unity.

At least 50 demonstrators were injured, including eight local journalists who complained that they had been severely beaten while doing their job.

On Saturday, Hamas again targeted local journalists, raiding several press offices and confiscating cameras, laptops and other equipment. Sources in Gaza City said that the Hamas policemen stormed the offices of CNN, Reuters and a Japanese TV station.

Three Palestinian journalists were beaten with clubs, the sources said. They identified the three as Sami Abu Salem, Manal Hasan and Munzer al-Sharafi.

The Hamas crackdown on journalists is seen as an attempt to prevent further coverage of daily protests throughout the Gaza Strip.

Hamas’s actions indicate that the movement, which has been in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007, is afraid that the current wave of popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world would hit the Strip.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s announcement last week that he’s prepared to visit the Gaza Strip for reconciliation talks with Hamas leaders is another source of concern for the movement.

Hamas fears that Abbas’s visit to the Gaza Strip would drive tens of thousands of Palestinians to take to the streets to greet him and demand an end to the Hamas-Fatah power struggle.

Ironically, an IDF operation in the Gaza Strip will undoubtedly ease the internal pressure on Hamas. The mortar attacks are aimed at dragging Israel into a military offensive that is needed by Hamas to divert attention from its problems and rally the Palestinian public behind it.

Hamas to Israel: Don’t test us – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Senior Hamas man killed in IDF strike in Gaza after dozens of mortar shells fired at Israel

Yoav Zitun

At least one senior Hamas man was killed and four civilians were wounded in an IDF strike Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry spokesman said. 

The army struck several targets across the Strip after Hamas and other terror groups fired dozens of mortar shells at southern Israel earlier in the day.

Hamas Spokesman Ismail Radwan said the mortar barrages were a response to Israeli Air Force attacks that killed group members and warned Jerusalem “not to test Hamas’ response.” Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz visited southern communities targeted by the mortar attacks. The army chief entered homes damaged in the strikes, spoke with residents and also discussed the situation with the head of the Eshkol Regional Council. “We know what we’re doing, and as far as we’re concerned the situation is under control,” Gantz said at the conclusion of the visit.

Netanyahu vows firm response

Southern residents received warning of the incoming mortar shells via text messages and phone calls, quickly rushing to bomb shelters. As result of the quick action, only two residents sustained light wounds in the major barrages. Following the unusual scope of the Palestinian attack, the IDF decided to activate its multifaceted radar system in order to improve the alert given to residents. Following the mortar attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will respond firmly to any Gaza attack, and that every such incident will be met with a response.

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni also called for harsh response to the attacks. “Hamas does not recognize our right to exist here. It is no partner for peace and an agreement,” she said. “The right way to contend with it is through force, as Israel did during Operation Cast Lead and after it…as far as activity vis-à-vis Hamas is concerned, there are no disagreements between the opposition and the coalition.” Ilana Curiel contributed to the story

Victoria’s Secret: The inside story of an arms-laden ship.

The ships closed in fast. Hours earlier, the navy had received news that the Victoria, a 179- meter-long cargo ship flying a Liberian flag, had departed from Mersin Port in southern Turkey with Alexandria, Egypt as its destination.

According to intelligence received several days earlier by the defense establishment, the ship was carrying 39 containers among the 100 on its deck that had been loaded onto it at Latakia in western Syria the week before.

Latakia is one of Syria’s primary ports and is also home to a newly-built Russian navy base. It is there that the Russian supersonic P-800 Yakount cruise missiles will be brought later this year as part of a deal Israel tried to torpedo.

It was also the port where two Iranian warships – the frigate Alvand and supply ship Kharq – docked in late February.

Israel is not saying whether this is a mere coincidence or that the Iranian ships brought the weaponry that was captured aboard the Victoria early Tuesday morning. “It is a good question,” was all a senior navy source agreed to say.

BUT BACK to the operation.

First to approach the Victoria were Sa’ar 5-class missile ships from Flotilla 3, based in Haifa. They contacted the captain of the German-owned ship on the international radio channel and began questioning him about his point of origin and planned destination. A navy officer then told the captain his ship was suspected of carrying illegal cargo and asked for permission to board for an inspection. “Yes,” the captain said. “I will tell engineers to stop our vessel.”

A few more minutes passed before speedboats carrying armed commandos from Flotilla 13 pulled alongside the Victoria, which dropped down a ladder for them to use to climb aboard.

Not knowing what to expect, the commandos boarded with their weapons at the ready out of concern that there could be Iranian or even Hamas operatives aboard. They ordered the ship’s crew to gather by the bridge and then began going over the cargo certificates.

Led by Flotilla 13 commander Capt. S – a bald, short but serious looking officer – the commandos apparently knew what they were looking for. Out of the 39 shipping containers that had been loaded onto the Victoria in Latakia were three that were supposed to be unloaded in Alexandria.

According to their cargo certificates, the three were carrying lentils and cotton, but when the commandos located them on the upper deck they were found sealed with heavy locks, not the kind used for innocent cargo. After breaking them open, the commandos pulled away the first few rows of sacks and discovered a number of crates each of which had a “Made in Britain” sticker pasted to it.

The first few crates contained mortar shells of various sizes as well as regular ammunition. But Capt. S. knew the true reason he and his teams of commandos had been sent 350 kilometers into the Mediterranean in the middle of the night, and it wasn’t for mortars.

“Open the containers’ back door!” he ordered his men. It was then that the commandos saw two large metallic looking tubes, each containing a four-meter long missile known in Iran as the Nasr-1 and in China as the C-704, an extremely sophisticated antiship missile.

After the containers were unloaded at Ashdod port, the navy found they were carrying six C-704s in all, and two of the British-made radars that are used to guide them.

With a range of 35 km. and a 130 kg. explosive warhead capable of sinking 1,000-ton vessels, the missiles – had they arrived in the Gaza Strip – would have forced the navy to change the way it operates. It now operates just a few kilometers from shore; this would no longer be possible.

Even though the navy succeeded in stopping this shipment, there are likely to be more attempts. Since there is a chance the missiles will one day make their way to the Gaza Strip, the navy is working hard to develop systems for its smaller Dvora patrol boats which, unlike the larger Sa’ar 5-class vessels, do not have missile defense systems.

That such missiles were intercepted en route to Gaza shows Hamas’s and Iran’s nerve but also the possibility that Mahmoud Ali Mabhouh, who had served as Hamas’s main arms smuggler until his January 2010 assassination of in Dubai, has been replaced.

At the same time, the chosen route – Syria to Egypt – should also raise concern about the role the Sinai will play in future smuggling schemes. Iran, Israel believes, is working to establish new terrorist and smuggling infrastructure there to be able to increase the quantity and quantity of material reaching Gaza.

Use of the Sinai route, though, might mean that Iran is feeling pressure in other places, primarily in the Red Sea, through which ships are believed to sail from the port of Bandar Abbas, controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, to Eritrea and Sudan. The arms are then transferred through the Sinai to the Philadelphi corridor, where they are smuggled via one of the hundreds of tunnels into the Gaza Strip.

There have been reports the sea route is preferred by Iran since it is so vast and extremely difficult to track. In 2010, the navy questioned hundreds of ships sailing in the Mediterranean and boarded a few dozen. NATO, American and UNIFIL ships have questioned thousands more.

THE MAN responsible for weapons smuggling is Gen. Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ al-Quds Force. Established in the early 1990s to operate covertly outside Iran, the force serves as an elite unit that answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Its main mission is to export the revolution outside of Iran.

Not much is known about Suleimani, but he is believed to have played a key role in the transfer of long-range missiles to Hezbollah in the years preceding the 2006 Second Lebanon War. He was born in the late 1950s in Qom.

According to Western intelligence agencies, several thousand agents operate under Suleimani, who has served as the commander since 1998; most are Iranian and the remainder from other nationalities. The common denominator is their knowledge of Arabic and uncompromising devotion to the revolution.

The first commander of the al-Quds Force, Gen. Ahmed Vahidi, cultivated Iran’s greatest success thus far in exporting the revolution – Hezbollah. In August 2009, he became defense minister shortly after an international extradition order was issued against him for his involvement in the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994.

By the time Suleimani took over, the focus was still on Hezbollah but also on Hamas. After the end of the Second Lebanon War, Iran began sending it assistance on a regular basis and even set up training centers in Iran for its fighters.

Suleimani also works with African countries.

In October, two of his operatives were discovered in Nigeria where they were allegedly trying to smuggle weapons into Gambia. The shipment was listed as containing building materials, but instead had 107 mm. rockets, 1210 mm. mortar shells and light arms.

The difficulty in locating and identifying arms shipments cannot be underestimated. Thousands of ships travel through the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and it is up to Israeli intelligence services to pinpoint the three or four containers that are carrying arms.

“This is a war,” Chief of General Staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz said as he inspected the Victoria’s cargo in Ashdod Port on Wednesday.

“And in a war there is never a moment to rest.”