Human rights lawyer calls incident “outrageous, gross violation” of international law.
By World Israel News Stafflash out against Israel.
Turkish airport authorities refused to allow the plane to refuel, when it needed to do so in order to continue to Tel Aviv.
Passengers were not given permission to leave the plane, and were forced to sit for hours on the tarmac while the El Al captain and crew attempted to obtain fuel for the flight.
Following a wait of several hours, the plane departed without refueling for nearby Rhodes, Greece. There, the plane refueled, departed, and finally landed safely in Israel.
After media reports emerged about Turkey’s refusal to allow the plane to continue its journey, officials claimed that the El Al captain “decided to leave” shortly before “fuel was to be provided.”
Notably, the statement was a tacit admission that Turkey had delayed refueling for hours. The claim that the authorities had agreed to provide fuel is dubious, and appeared to be an attempt to save face by the Turkish government.
“This is outrageous, and gross violation of international law,” wrote human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky on social media platform X.
Ostrovsky noted that in 2023, “after massive earthquake in Turkey, Israel was one of first to provide aid. And now Erdogan’s regime, a NATO ally by the way, does this? Vile and unconscionable!”
Since the October 7th massacres, the Turkish government has banned all direct flights between Israel and Turkey and repeatedly expressed support for the Hamas terror group.
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