Israel-bound explosives for IDF contractors and the Israeli police have been transported through Irish sovereign airspace since at least last October and November 2023 – on two flights separate from the other four already reported by The Ditch.
The four flights covered by The Ditch in recent reports took place in February 2024. These two flights, carrying munitions for Israeli state forces, flew through Irish sovereign airspace in October and November 2023.
The Department of Transport said yesterday it’s examining these reports.Taoiseach Simon Harris said earlier this week he is “seeking information” on the matter. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald yesterday called on Harris to “urgently provide full answers” in response to the claims.
Since at least October
On 29 October, 2023, a Challenge Airlines Israel Boeing 747-412(BCF) with the registration number OO-ACE left JFK Airport, New York for Tel Aviv. It had a scheduled stopover at Liege Airport in Belgium.
The flight entered Irish airspace over county Kerry and continued flying across Ireland before exiting the state above the Hook Peninsula in county Wexford.
Onboard there were 167 kilogrammes of detonators for IDF contractor Orion Advanced Sytems – “the sole supplier of (detonating) fuzes to the Israeli Air Force”. The flight’s cargo also included 42 explosive-containing pressure cartridges for use in military aircraft for delivery to the Israeli state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.
Meanwhile on 24 November, 2023, the same plane flew from JFK Airport to Tel Aviv via Liege, again entering Irish sovereign airspace above county Kerry and leaving the country above county Wexford.
This time it carried more than 1,500 “super-sock” baton round cartridges for delivery to Israel’s national police force.
The cartridges contain 40 grammes of ballistic fibre held in a bean bag, which can cause “death or serious injury” if fired at the head or neck, according to USA manufacturer Combined Tactical Systems.
Turkish politician İbrahim Bilgen was killed by IDF soldiers using the same type of baton round during the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid.
Bilgen was “shot…at such close proximity that an entire bean bag and its wadding penetrated the skull and lodged in the brain”, according to a 2010 UN Human Rights Council report.
The November 2023 flight also carried another batch of 42 pressure cartridges, classed as dangerous goods, for Israel Aerospace Industries.
It is an indictable criminal offence for an air carrier to transport munitions or dangerous goods over Irish sovereign airspace without an exemption from the minister for transport.
The Department of Transport says no such exemptions were granted to Challenge Airlines in 2023 or 2024.
Transport minister Eamon Ryan said in May this year that Irish sovereign airspace wasn't being used to transport weapons directly to Israel. He has so far refused to comment on the controversy.
