UK still sharing intelligence with Israel as surveillance flights over Gaza continue
Despite escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries, the UK has continued to assist Israel militarily.
On Tuesday, government sources confirmed that Britain continues to fly spy planes over Gaza and share intelligence with Israel, according to The Times.
For months, British politicians have questioned the government about the role played by a Royal Air Force base on the island of Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, just a 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv.
From there, RAF aircraft have conducted hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza throughout Israel's war on the besieged enclave.
In response to questions about these flights, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has repeatedly insisted it is in support of "hostage rescue".
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The MoD confirmed this week that surveillance flights were "still ongoing" over Gaza, The Times reported.
According to flight tracking data, Shadow R1s, RAF specialist planes, have not flown over Gaza in the past month.
The MoD has refused to disclose which aircraft are currently being deployed over Gaza.
'A bird's-eye view of the genocide'
A source with knowledge of British surveillance capabilities in the Middle East told MEE earlier this year that the surveillance flights give Britain "a bird's-eye view of the genocide".
The source noted that the UK, a partner in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance that also includes the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, is the "number one gatherer of intelligence" in the Middle East.
"Britain knows exactly what is happening because of those flights. They have a better view than any journalist."
Former Major General Charlie Herbert, who served in the British Army for 35 years, told The Times: “It’s all good and proper saying they are handing over intelligence for the purposes for locating hostages, but in reality that intelligence is just as likely to be used [to target] Hamas and others.”
The MoD said last year that it "would consider any formal request from the International Criminal Court to provide information relating to investigations into war crimes".
There is significant secrecy surrounding much of what the RAF Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus is used for.
Earlier this year, MEE reported that the UK government blocked Labour MP Kim Johnson from asking about Israeli bombers using the Cyprus airbase.
Diplomatic ties between the UK and Israel have frayed in the past few months, culminating in the British government's announcement last week that it intends to recognise Palestinian statehood in September.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office responded by saying on X: "Starmer rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims. A jihadist state on Israel's border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW."
But despite the diplomatic fireworks, questions and scrutiny over the exact nature of Britain's military cooperation with Israel are sure to continue.
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