A freight company told an airline illegally transporting munitions through Irish airspace that the Israeli government had requested it to prioritise weapons being delivered to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The request came last December when Challenge Airlines organised transport – over Ireland – of PETN, the explosive allegedly used in the Lebanon exploding pager attack.
The Department of Transport confirmed earlier today that “nine civilian aircraft, reported by The Ditch website to have carried munitions of war which were destined for Israel, did enter Irish sovereign airspace”.
‘Israeli Ministry of Defense is asking cargo with the IDF to be prioritised’
On 10 December 2023, a senior executive at JAS Freight Forwarding’s New York branch emailed Challenge Airlines, asking it to urgently assist with the delivery of 50 PETN-containing Teledyne RP-87 exploding bridge wire detonators.
A senior executive referred to the Israeli Ministry of Defence in his email.
“This is for PLASAN which is a military industry supporting the current conflict in Israel. I have seen a letter from the Israeli MOD (Ministry of Defense) asking cargo with the IDF as end user to be prioritized… and I ask for your help with earliest booking possible”, they said.
PLASAN is an IDF defence contractor based in Sasa, an Israeli kibbutz just more than one kilometre from the border with Lebanon.
Challenge Airlines responded to JAS the same day and explained it couldn’t deliver the explosives in December because they had no “same tail connection” flights operating that month.
The PETN-containing devices were delivered in early February this year, as reported by The Ditch earlier this month.
The devices used by Hezbollah that exploded in Lebanon last week were laced with highly explosive PETN, according to Reuters. The attack killed 42 people, including two children.
