A SCOTTISH airport is facing questions after it was revealed to have been used as a base for an Israeli military plane.
Glasgow Prestwick, owned by the Scottish Government, saw the arrival of an Israeli Air Force plane shortly before 1pm on November 18.
It had returned from a US airbase in Dover, Delaware, according to publicly available flight records published online.
Information from FlightAware said the plane was a B703, a long-range airliner mostly used to carry freight.
US arms were sent from Dover to Israel in early October, with an IDF spokesperson telling Haaretz that the shipment contained “advanced ammunition designed to allow significant strikes and to prepare for additional scenarios”.
Arrival in Israel
The flight records do not say whether the flight, numbered IAF680, left Glasgow on November 18 but the investigative site Declassified UK reported that it departed on that date shortly after 1pm.
It arrived Beersheba, Israel, around 5 hours later.
Beersheba is an Israeli city in the Negev desert which is home to the Israeli Air Force’s Nevatim air base.
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The revelation comes just under a week after the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, found there was a plausible case Israel was perpetrating a genocide in its assault on Gaza.
Declassified UK said it had found evidence six Israeli flights had landed in Britain since October 7, when Israel was attacked by Hamas.
In the months that have followed, more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
International Court of Justice ruling on Israel
Last week the ICJ rejected Israel’s arguments to throw out a genocide case made against it by South Africa.
It instructed Israel to ensure it did not commit genocide in its response to Hamas’s attacks.
Declassified UK reported that flights had also departed from RAF Mildenhall, the US Air Force base in Suffolk and locations in Birmingham and Oxfordshire.
The UK Government is under pressure to reveal whether British assets were “playing any role in a campaign of genocide”.
READ MORE: UK urged to stop arms sales to Israel by 'outraged' constituents of SNP MP
The revelations could also prove politically tricky for Prestwick’s owner, the Scottish Government, which has taken a strongly pro-Palestine stance since the beginning of Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
Ross Greer (below), the Scottish Greens’ external affairs spokesperson, said: “For years now Prestwick has effectively been treated like an American military airbase.
“It would raise serious questions if it is now also being used by the Israeli Air Force, particularly at a time when they are being investigated for genocide and inflicting war crimes and a humanitarian crisis on the people of Gaza.
“The airport and the Military of Defence must urgently clarify what has happened here. Our public assets should not be playing any role in a campaign of genocide.”
The Ministry of Defence said: “It is standard practice to routinely authorise requests for limited numbers of allies and partners to access the UK’s air bases.
“We cannot comment on or provide information relating to foreign nations’ military aircraft movements or operations.”
Transport Scotland said questions should be directed at Prestwick Airport, the company which runs the site on the Scottish Government’s behalf.
Prestwick Airport did not respond to a request for comment.
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