France criticised for allowing Netanyahu's plane to use its airspace

The French government has been accused of a “serious violation” of its legal obligations by allowing indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane to pass over its airspace - for the third time in two months.

Netanyahu, who was issued an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant last year for war crimes in Gaza, travelled from Hungary to the United States last weekend, flying over Croatian, Italian and French airspace en route. 

Similarly, in February, a plane carrying Netanyahu from Israel to the US flew over Greece, Italy and France. The return flight is reported to have taken a similar reverse route.  

A French diplomatic source told Middle East Eye that the 2 February flight had been “authorised” to use French airspace, which they said was “in full compliance with France’s rights and obligations under international law”. 

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