Santorini Affair
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The ''Santorini'' was a fishing boat used for weapons-smuggling, which was captured in May 2001 by the
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i
Shayetet 13 Shayetet 13 () is a naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary sayeret, reconnaissance units of the Israel Defense Forces. Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence ...
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, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
.


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 (; – 7 July 2021) was a Palestinian militant and political leader who was the founder and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC). During the Syrian Civil War, Jibril was a ...
's
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command () or PFLP-GC is a Palestinian nationalist militant organisation based in Syria. It is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It was founded in 1968 by A ...
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 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 m ...
s * Four
Strela 2 The 9K32 Strela-2 (; 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, infrared-homing guidance and dest ...
(SA-7)
antiaircraft missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...
s *120 RKG anti-tank grenades *20
rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...
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 village i ...
*98 60-mm mortar rounds *62 TMA-5 land mines *Eight TMA-3 anti-tank land mines *24
hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...
s *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 The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...
– Palestinian Information Minister
Yasser Abed Rabbo Yasser Abed Rabbo () also known by his '' kunya'', Abu Bashar () (born 1944) is a Palestinian politician and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee. Biography Early life and career Born in Jaffa in 1944 ...
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' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
, 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 in Asia Arms trafficking Battles and conflicts without fatalities Cross-border operations of Israel Counterterrorism in Israel Maritime incidents in Israel Military operations of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Operations involving Israeli special forces Israeli Navy