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4h ago

UK’s RAF Continues Unarmed Gaza Flights to Track Hamas Hostages

Britain defends its unarmed reconnaissance missions, asserting they offer life-saving support for hostage recovery under strict data controls.

Flight path data showed the British-contracted aircraft flying over the largely destroyed city of Khan Yunis
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Overview

  • Since December 2023 the RAF has carried out hundreds of unarmed surveillance sorties over Gaza to gather imagery and signals intelligence aimed at locating hostages.
  • The Ministry of Defence maintains that the UK retains full authority over all collected data and only shares information directly related to rescue operations.
  • Flight-tracking records show Shadow R1 specialist aircraft operating from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus flew the most recent missions last month.
  • Former Major General Charlie Herbert cautioned that intelligence intended for hostage tracking could also be repurposed by Israel for targeting militants or civilian areas.
  • Diplomatic ties have reached an all-time low after the UK condemned Gaza’s civilian casualties and threatened sanctions and conditional recognition of a Palestinian state in response to Netanyahu’s full occupation plan.