Israeli premier’s plane avoids most of European airspace en route to US over ICC arrest warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flight to the US bypassed the airspace of most European countries for fears of being arrested over an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for war crimes in Gaza, local media said Thursday.

According to Amichai Stein, a diplomatic correspondent for i24 News channel, Netanyahu’s plane avoided the French airspace, lengthening the journey to the US over the ICC arrest warrant and current tensions between Tel Aviv and Paris regarding the Gaza war.

His plane did not pass over any European country, except Greece and Italy, the correspondent said, as he shared a map disclosing the route of Netanyahu’s flight.

In November 2024, the Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Netanyahu departed Tel Aviv early Thursday to address the 80th UN General Assembly in New York and meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

Speaking to reporters at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport before his departure, Netanyahu said he will condemn the leaders of countries that recognized Palestinian statehood.

Several Western countries, including France, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Belgium, recognized the state of Palestine this week, raising the total to 159 of the UN’s 193 member states.

Netanyahu said he will meet Trump for the fourth time since the US president assumed office in January 2025, to discuss “the great opportunities our victories have brought and our need to complete the war objectives.”

His trip comes as the Israeli army continued a brutal offensive in Gaza, killing more than 65,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.