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The Royal Air Force (RAF) has operated surveillance flights near Gaza on all six days of the ceasefire that Hamas released hostages, Declassified has found.
No spy planes were sent towards the strip on the other days of the ceasefire.
The planes take off from Britain’s air base on Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, and head in the direction of Gaza, when they turn their transponders off.
Prior to the ceasefire, such flights were an almost daily occurrence with the UK government claiming they were helping Israel find hostages.
Campaigners in Cyprus have questioned the UK government’s motives for the ongoing surveillance flights.
Melanie Steliou, a Cypriot actress and activist, told Declassified: “The explanation given that the flights being sent from RAF Akrotiri are only for rescuing hostages is not convincing.
“Why are these flights being continued during a ceasefire? Why are these flights near Gaza during hostage releases? What intelligence is RAF Akrotiri sharing with Israel?"
A spokesperson for Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Declassified: “The UK’s operational mandate has been narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of the hostages only.”
They claimed that RAF flights in the Eastern Mediterranean during the truce “did not enter Gazan airspace and at all times operated in accordance with the ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas”.
Read more by Mark Curtis and Phil Miller: https://www.declassifieduk.org/is-the-uk-spying-on-hamas-for-israel/