Media outlets are reporting that the U.S. Navy’s Combined Task Force-151 is now taking steps to prevent Hamas from rearming in the wake of its war with Israel.
Reports have swirled for the past few days in the London Times, World Tribune and other publications that CTF-151, which was established to combat piracy around the Horn of Africa, is now helping to stop the flow of weapons to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The French are also taking steps to stem the flow of weapons to Hamas by positioning a frigate off the coast of Gaza, reports say. Israel and Hamas ended their brief war earlier this month.
Reports in the London Times and World Tribune also indicated that last week servicemembers from the USS San Antonio, CTF-151’s command ship, boarded an Iranian-owned ship in the Red Sea and spent two days inspecting it in Egyptian waters. Navy officials were quoted as saying the ship had artillery shells and other weapons, but those weapons did not appear destined for Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The World Tribune also reported that Israel briefed the U.S. military and the U.S. Department of Defense about Iranian weapons shipments through Egyptian ports to Hamas.
U.S. Navy and other military officials declined to comment on the search of the Iranian vessel specifically. A spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet also declined to disclose how it determines where weapons are headed when it searches ships.
"Our ships look for smuggling operations of humans and weapons and drugs," Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, told Stars and Stripes. "This isn’t anything new, this is standard. Our forces repeatedly board many ships in the area. [CTF-151’s mission] is to deter and disrupt piracy, but they are not limited to that."
