Yesterday as Israel began another murderous war, this time against the people of Iran, Shannon Airport continued to refuel US and NATO aircraft.

On Wednesday, 11th June, Omni Air N468AX landed at Shannon coming from Naples, Crete and the Persian Gulf. It took off about 01.26 on Thursday morning heading towards the US.

A US military Cessna UC-35A with registration 99-00102 landed on Thursday 12th June about 16.25 coming from Wiesbaden air base Germany via Wick Airport in northern Scotland. It took off again about 18.20 and returned to Wiesbaden air base. See its flight history here.

A German Luftwaffe plane number 10+02 made a brief landing at Shannon about 12.15 on 12th June coming from landings in France and Denmark and returned to Koln Bonn in Germany. It may have been on a training exercise.

And on Friday 13th June, Omni Air N351AX landed at about 04.00 on coming from Thessaloniki, Greece and Sofia, Bulgaria. It took off again about 07.07 heading towards the US.

The Israeli attack on Iran was seen by Iran as a declaration of war and is likely to escalate into a larger war. Israel's has the backing of the US; their troops will become involved and countless more innocent people will be killed and displaced. And the Irish Government will once again have blood on its hands if it allows those troops to use Shannon Airport.

Meanwhile there are reports that Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien is reviewing what additional checks the state can carry out to ensure that no weapons destined for Israel are flown through Ireland. It's a step in the right direction, but its not enough. 

According to The Journal, when the issue was raised with Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris previously, he said that the existing legislation doesn’t provide for a system of random inspections.

If that's so, then it's well past time to change the system. If Simon Harris knows that what is happening in Gaza is genocide, then he and the government should not be facilitating it. 

Despite what Simon Harris says, the Irish Government is NOT doing all it can to help the people of Palestine. It is stalling and delaying and making excuses while Israel commits crimes of epic proportions.

We need to end this complicity.