The UK newspaper The Times reported Tuesday that the British military continues to operate spy planes over the Gaza Strip "with the aim of locating the hostages who have not yet been released." According to the report, British government officials confirmed to the newspaper that intelligence gathered by Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft and other means is being transferred to Israel, providing it with real-time information on the "movements of the hostages."
The British Ministry of Defense refused to reveal which planes were used, but flight tracking data indicates that Shadow R1 planes - advanced spy planes equipped with precise electro-optical sensors - carried out hundreds of sorties over Gaza until last month, when they took off from the British Akrotiri base in Cyprus.
1 View gallery
A Shadow R1 plane - advanced spy planes equipped with precise electro-optical sensors
(Photo: Peter R Foster IDMA/Shutterstock)
Although no Shadow flights have been seen in recent days, the British Defense Ministry clarified that the aerial reconnaissance missions in Gaza "are still ongoing." A source in the Royal Air Force was quoted in the article as saying that the Shadow jets had returned to Britain, but it was not clear which aircraft had replaced them on sensitive missions. The Shadow jet is operated by the RAF's 14 Squadron, based in Lincolnshire. The squadron's motto, written in Arabic, is taken from the Koran: "I spread my wings and fulfill my promise."
The British claim that intelligence is being transferred to Israel only for the purposes of rescuing the hostages, but British Major General (res.) Charlie Herbert expressed doubts: "It is all well and good to say that intelligence is being transferred to Israel for the purposes of locating the hostages, but in practice it could also be used for attacks against Hamas and others."
According to the report, other RAF aircraft are also operating in the area, including the Poseidon P8 and the Rivet Joint aircraft - which is capable of intercepting communications and electronic systems from the ground.
Since October 7, the Times reported, British reconnaissance aircraft have been flying almost daily sorties over Gaza, gathering sensitive intelligence on ground movements. The frequency and persistence of the sorties over the Strip have raised questions in the UK about what British eyewitnesses in the sky might have seen during the 20 months of fighting.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
The newspaper noted that Britain’s military aid to Israel continued even after the new Labour government announced sanctions against ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, and even threatened to recognize a Palestinian state if there was no humanitarian improvement in Gaza. Foreign Minister David Lammy called the attacks by IDF soldiers on Palestinians searching for food "appalling" and threatened further sanctions. In addition, the British government had previously announced that it would consider handing over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) intelligence collected during the reconnaissance flights over Gaza if required.
Despite this, according to The Times, the Royal Air Force has been conducting almost daily sorties since the start of the fighting, collecting sensitive intelligence on ground movements in Gaza. The intelligence, it is claimed, is transferred to Israel under British supervision, and solely for the purpose of rescuing the hostages.
The IDF refused to comment on the report, and the British Ministry of Defense said: "Since December 2023, unarmed IAF reconnaissance aircraft have been flying over Gaza with the sole purpose of locating abductees. The information transmitted to Israel is limited to this subject only. We do not provide operational details for security reasons."