A ship purchased in Lebanon and loaded with arms in Iran sailed toward the Gaza Strip. Operation Noah's Ark was the Israel Defense Forces plan to intercept the Karine-A on the high seas. In the Red Sea, Israeli naval commandos intercepted it between Sudan and Saudi Arabia on 3 January 2002; operating from both sea and air, they boarded the ship, surprised the crew, and took control without firing a shot. Karine-A contained 50 tons of weapons and explosives for use against Israel by the Palestinians, including short-and long-range Katyusha rockets, antitank missiles (Low and Sagger), mortars, mines, sniper rifles, shotguns, and more. The seized ship was redirected to Eilat.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) had purchased the ship and was responsible for shipping the weapons to its territory. The financing of the whole operation was done by the leaders of the PA, and the commander of the ship was a senior officer in the Palestinian Naval Police.
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..