UK flew 50 spy missions over Gaza since December, report reveals
The UK military has carried out some 50 spy missions over the Gaza Strip for the Israeli regime since last month, a new investigation has revealed.
In its latest report, Declassified UK, a news website focused on British foreign policy, said the flights have taken off from the UK's controversial Akrotiri air base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
It said the military dispatched Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft to gather intelligence for Israel.
The news website also said in a report in November that the UK military transport aircraft flew daily from Akrotiri to Tel Aviv between October 13 and 26.
The base, located in southern Cyprus, is about 40 minutes flying time from Tel Aviv.
In early December, Britain’s Ministry of Defense released some information on the flights between Akrotiri and the occupied territories but has refused to specify what is being transported.
It claimed at the time that the flights would only attempt to gather information on British hostages held by the Hamas resistance movement in Gaza.
“But the extraordinary number of flights, and the fact that they started nearly two months after the hostages were taken, raises suspicions that the UK is not collecting intelligence solely for this purpose,” Declassified UK said.
The UK military refuses to tell Declassified what intelligence it is sharing with Israel as we reveal the extraordinary number of surveillance flights Britain is undertaking over Gaza from its base on Cyprus.
— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) January 20, 2024
👉 Britain has flown 50 spy missions over Gaza in support of Israel…
Monitors and media reports also revealed recently that Britain is supplying Israel’s military forces for the regime’s onslaught on Gaza from the military bases in Cyprus.
Head of the Cyprus Peace Council Charis Pashias said last week that locals have seen a “daily” increase in the number of flights from Akrotiri since Israel launched its bombardment of the Palestinian territory on Oct 7, 2023.
He said people have also “become aware of the illegal presence of thousands of American soldiers now stationed in Akrotiri.”
The UK military also refused to disclose details of US activity from Cyprus.
British lawmaker Kenny MacAskill, who has raised questions in parliament about the role of Akrotiri airbase in Israel’s war on Gaza, said it was “disgraceful” that “both UK citizens and a sovereign state are denied information as to what is being done.”
“The use of RAF Akrotiri does seem to allow the UK to deny information and complicity by saying it’s the USA. Equally, the USA avoids disclosure by saying it’s UK territory,” he added.
Both the UK and the US have come under fire for supporting Israel in its genocidal war, whose main victims have so far been women and children, according to UN Women, the United Nations agency promoting gender equality.
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