Israeli ship 'mistakenly' enters Arab waters

Manama: An Israel Navy vessel had entered the territorial waters of a neighbouring Arab country last week, but was not detected.

According to the Israeli army, the ship’s commander committed a navigational error that caused the “Dvora”-class ship to enter 700 metres into the neighbouring country’s waters, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Tuesday.

The infiltration was not detected by the Arab country’s forces, with an Israel Navy radar warning the vessel and directing it toward international waters, the army said.

The incident was first reported by Channel 10 on Sunday.

A spokesperson said the military conducted “an operational investigation in which the ship’s commander was tried and sentenced to prison.”

Israel’s sea neighbours are Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.

The incident took place two days after another naval mishap, one which caused seven Israeli employees of a private security firm to be briefly arrested by the Egyptian Navy near the Straits of Tiran in the Red Sea, the daily said.

According to Haaretz, the four security men and three other crew members were arrested on a yacht on Wednesday after they reportedly threw their personal weapons overboard in a fright upon noticing a nearby Egyptian naval patrol.

The Israeli yacht was escorted into the Sinai port city of Sharm el Sheikh, where the Israelis were interrogated.

At that point, official contact between the Israeli foreign ministry and its Egyptian counterpart began in order to clarify what the Israeli side said was a misunderstanding.

Following several hours of detention, the seven were released early on Thursday morning.