Morning Star, October 3, 2024
THE Labour government has ordered 100 spy flights over Gaza to aid Israeli intelligence, an investigation by Declassified UK revealed today.
The intelligence-gathering flights began in December under the previous government.
Eleven flights took place in Labour’s first week in power, and during Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s first full month in office in August, the Royal Air Force (RAF) flew 42 flights over Gaza.
Declassified UK found that the flights were departing from Britain’s air base in Cyprus.
The flights may have gathered up to 500 hours of footage of Gaza, Declassified UK said, though it is unclear exactly where the British intelligence is going and what it comprises.
Earlier this month, Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin, a former British army officer who served in Afghanistan, asked the military whether “UK intelligence is passed to Israel for the purposes of military targeting.”
Labour’s armed forces minister Luke Pollard responded by saying the surveillance flights were “solely tasked to support hostage rescue.”
Britain’s intelligence support to Israel is not limited to aerial missions.
An Israeli official disclosed to the New York Times that a secret British reconnaissance team was deployed to Israel early on in its attack on Gaza.
The British team gives “added value” to its intelligence operations, he said, adding that Britain is providing intelligence that “Israel cannot collect on its own.”
There is no evidence the new Labour government has brought this spy team home from Israel.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Declassified that Britain is not a participant in the war in Gaza, adding: “Our mandate is narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of the hostages only, including British nationals, with the RAF routinely conducting unarmed flights since December 2023 for this sole purpose.”
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