In recent weeks, Palestinian militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza have aimed rockets at Israeli cities, far enough away that Israel is convinced the projectiles came from abroad, probably Iran.

The first leg of a journey for weapons ending up in Gaza is a sea journey, ending with a trek across Egypt's barren Sinai desert, and then through a network of smuggling tunnels under the 15-kilometer Gaza-Egypt border.

The Israeli navy is trying to stop the shipments at their first stage — on the high seas.

Like other branches of Israel's military, the navy works mostly behind the scenes, and many of its operations are classified. They come to light when the navy carries out a major interception.

Its most recent success was March 15, when it seized the Victoria cargo ship. That weapons shipment departed from the Syrian port of Latakia and stopped in Mercin, Turkey. It was headed for the port of Alexandria in Egypt when it was intercepted, some 320 kilometers off Israel's Mediterranean coast.

AP