Karine A Affair - The Shipment

The Shipment

The ship itself was worth an estimated $400,000, the civilian cargo used to conceal the weapons approximately $3,000,000, and the weapons were estimated at a value of approximately $15,000,000. The shipment included the following weapons:

• 122 mm Katyusha rockets.
• 107 mm Katyusha rockets.
• 80 mm mortar shells.
• 120 mm mortar shells.
• Anti-tank missiles.
• Anti-tank mines.
• Sniper rifles.
• AK-47 ("Kalashnikov") assault rifles.
• Ammunition.
• Two and a half tons of pure explosives.

Ashkelon and other coastal cities would have been threatened by these Katyusha rockets if they reached Gaza. The Ben-Gurion International Airport and various major Israeli cities would have been within the range of these rockets if situated in the West Bank. The shipment also included rubber boats and diving equipment. This equipment could have facilitated seaborne attacks from Gaza against the coastal cities.

Maj. Gen. Yedidya Yaari, the commander of the Israeli Navy, reported that the weapons and equipment were packed in 83 crates, in waterproof plastic and attached to buoys, to permit their drop-off and retrieval at sea.