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Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office
Pakistani warships in the Red Sea
Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office

WATCH: Israeli Navy missile boats sail by Pakistani warships

Two Israeli missile boats recently returned from operational activity in the Red Sea, where they worked to thwart Iranian smuggling attempts of advanced weapons to Hamas in the Gaza Strip through Yemen.

Two Israeli Navy missile boats has recently returned from operational activity in the Red Sea, where they sailed pass Pakistani and Egyptian warships. 

 

 

The mission lasted for a month and a half, at times taking the Israeli sailors over 1,000 kilometers away from Israel's shores. 

 

As the Israeli Air Force works to thwart land smuggling of advanced weapons from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, the Israeli Navy and the Military Intelligence Directorate are working to foil smuggling of weapons to Hamas in the Gaza Strip through naval smuggling routes.

 

Pakistani warships in the Red Sea    (צילום: דובר צה"ל)

Pakistani warships in the Red Sea

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Despite the relative quiet on the naval front, there is concern the smuggling attempts through the Red Sea from east to west will not stop and might even increase amid the war in Yemen. The Houthis, who are loyal to Tehran, have been able to capture some parts of the coastline in the southwestern parts of the country, giving Iran access to the Red Sea.  

 

The Navy has already stopped major smuggling attempts on the Karine A and Klos C in the Red Sea, making the Navy's presence in the area all the more vital.

 

Pakistani warships sailing by Israeli Navy vessels (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)
Pakistani warships sailing by Israeli Navy vessels (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

 

The Navy missile boats sailed through the 1,900 kilometers that make up the Red Sea, from the Straits of Tiran to the Bab-el-Mandeb Straits. They passed by hundreds of civilian and military ships, including vessels from the navies of Pakistan, Egypt and other Muslim nations.

 

"Twenty percent of the world's merchandise pass through the Red Sea, so there are a lot of international interests in these waters," a senior Navy officer who recently returned from the Red Sea explained to Ynet. "That area is interesting to us because there is a combination of military and civilian activity. We're also there to allow Israeli merchant ships to safely sail to Haifa or Eilat."

 

A helicopter landing on a Sa'ar 5 missile boat (Photo: IDF Spoesman's Office)
A helicopter landing on a Sa'ar 5 missile boat (Photo: IDF Spoesman's Office)

 

One of the Navy's biggest challenges in the Red Sea is identifying the boats, which are more often than not civilian vessels, that are smuggling the advanced weapons from Iran to Hamas.

 

"It's based on knowing the theater of operations, understanding what non-commercial smuggling is. So this effort is a combination of intelligence and a high level of professionalism in the Navy," the Navy official said.

 

Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office
Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office

 

The Navy officer said the Israeli vessels faced a variety of threats in the waters of the Red Sea, including fishing boats harboring terrorists who blow up near military vessels and missiles fired from the shore.

 

Despite this, "we know how to operate there even without foreign assistance," he said, adding that while the Israeli Air Force is on alert and ready to provide assistance if necessary, it would only happen if the Navy is met with "a catastrophe."

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.17.17, 11:15
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