The Ditch can reveal that a third Israel-bound cargo flight flew over Irish sovereign airspace this year – carrying more than 24 tonnes of weapons for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Sniper ammunition and exploding bridge wire detonators – for use in missiles – were among the munitions onboard.
Last week The Ditch reported that two munitions-laden cargo flights bound for Tel Aviv had flown over Irish sovereign airspace.
Both Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats foreign affairs spokespeople have demanded answers from the government after taoiseach Simon Harris assured the Dáil earlier this summer that Irish sovereign airspace was not being used to transport weapons to Israel.
‘The Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of the Taoiseach and Department of Transport have again been contacted for comment’
On 2 February, 2024 a Challenge Airlines Israel Boeing 747-412F with the registration number OE-LRG left JFK Airport, New York for Tel Aviv. It had a scheduled stopover at Liege Airport in Belgium.
The flight's cargo included more than 24 tonnes of weaponry – all marked as dangerous explosive-containing goods – for delivery to the Israeli government and IDF contractors.
The Ditch verified the flight’s cargo using documents released by Belgian authorities to Antwerp-based NGO Vredesactie.
There were 13 kilogrammes of .338 Lapua Magnum ammunition rounds for delivery to IMI Sytems, an Israeli-based IDF contractor, in the haul. This ammunition is used by IDF snipers in rifles that can kill a target from a distance of up to 1,200 metres.
The 2 February, 2024 weapons-loaded flight entered Irish airspace over county Clare and continued flying across the breadth of Ireland before exiting above Ballhealy Beach in county Wexford.
Meanwhile more than 23 tonnes of ammunition primer – an explosive used to propel rounds of ammunition from firearms – was also delivered to IMI Systems (Elbit Systems), a former Israeli state-owned weapons manufacturer mainly supplying to the IDF.
More than 16 tonnes of the ammunition primer was for use in 5.56mm ammunition rounds, the same calibre bullet the IDF used to kill Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022.
The cargo of munitions also included 2.7 kilogrammes of exploding bridge wire (EWB) detonators for delivery to Gate Technologies, a Tel Aviv company that helps produce missiles for the IDF. EWBs are commonly used to initiate the detonation reaction in nuclear warheads.
The Department of Foreign Affairs told The Ditch last week that no “exemptions (were) granted for the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft to Israel” this year.
Such transport across state airspace without an exemption from the Department of Transport is an indictable criminal offence punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.
Under Irish air navigation law, “munitions of war” are defined as “weapons and ammunition designed for use in warfare and includes parts of or for such weapons and ammunition”.
Sinn Féin TD and party foreign affairs spokesperson Matt Carthy said last week that the government “has serious questions to answer” over the use of Irish airspace to transport IDF weaponry.
Yesterday Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Gary Gannon asked taoiseach Simon Harris and tánaiste Micheál Martin to correct the Dáil record. Both party leaders said earlier this year that no Israel-bound weapons were being transported over Irish sovereign airspace.
Meanwhile People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith accused the government of “damn lies” over its past claims that sovereign airspace wasn’t being used to transport weapons to Israel.
Israel stands accused of committing genocide, having killed more than 40,000 Gazan civilians since October 2023.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of the Taoiseach and Department of Transport have again been contacted for comment.
