The Ditch has uncovered a second Israel-bound cargo flight that flew over Irish sovereign airspace this year – loaded with more than 23 tonnes of weapons for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The explosives included detonators, tear gas-containing cartridges and almost 15 tonnes of ammunition primer used by the IDF in Gaza.
These flights, when passing through Irish sovereign airspace, require clearance from the state. Yesterday a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said no applications for this clearance had been received for Israel-bound flights over the last year. "In 2023 and to date in 2024, no applications have been received or exemptions granted for the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft to Israel,” they said.
Yesterday The Ditch reported that another Israeli-operated flight had transported weapons over Irish sovereign airspace on the way to Tel Aviv.
Over Ireland on the way to Lockheed Martin’s Tel Aviv base
On 1 February, 2024 a Challenge Airlines Israel Boeing 747 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's cargo included more than 23 tonnes of weaponry – all marked as dangerous explosive-containing goods – for delivery to the Israeli government and IDF contractors.
Among its haul were 40 kilogrammes of detonators and 10 kilogrammes of explosive charges on their way for Lockheed Martin’s Tel Aviv base.
The 1 February, 2024 weapons-loaded flight entered Irish airspace over county Kerry before exiting above the Hook Peninsula in county Wexford.
Meanwhile more than six tonnes of tear gas cartridges, identical to those used by the IDF in the West Bank, were delivered to the “government of Israel”, according to documents released by Belgian authorities to Antwerp-based NGO Vredesactie (Peace Action).
The cargo also contained just under 15 tonnes of ammunition primer – explosives used to propel bullets from assault rifles. The primer was listed as being “5.56mm” and “7.62mm”, both common barrel diameters found in IDF-issued assault rifles and light machine guns used in Gaza.
IMI Systems, a former Israeli state-owned weapons manufacturer mainly supplying to the IDF, was the declared recipient.
The plane was also carrying more than two tonnes of “riot control equipment”, including practice grenades, for delivery to Tel Aviv-based company MR Hunter, the largest provider of tear gas munitions to the IDF.
The Department of Foreign Affairs told The Ditch yesterday that no “exemptions (were) granted for the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft to Israel” this year.
Air transportation of munitions of war 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”.
All three government party leaders claimed earlier this summer that no Israel-bound weapons were being transported over Irish sovereign airspace. Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said yesterday that the government “has serious questions to answer” over the use of Irish airspace to transport IDF weaponry.
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.
