Britain has abruptly halted its RAF surveillance flights over Gaza after two years of questions over the scope of the operations.
The Ministry of Defence has maintained that the Shadow R2 aircraft were used to search for hostages after the planes were deployed with Israel's permission in December 2023.
Only intelligence related to hostages taken by Hamas was given to the Israelis, the ministry said. “The UK government strictly controlled what information was passed on and only information relating to hostage rescue was passed to the relevant Israeli authorities.”
The ministry also insisted that the twin-turbo prop Beechcraft aircraft were “always unarmed, did not have a combat role, and were tasked solely to locate hostages”.
Defence experts have questioned what help the more than 700 flights provided as Israel had mass surveillance of Gaza from drones, aircraft and ground forces.
Israel had been carrying out “the most intense surveillance of Gaza” for two decades, said military analyst Tim Ripley.
“I struggle to understand what having one of those planes flying over for three hours an afternoon would add to the price of intelligence, as finding a Hamas fighter or hostage underground was needle in a haystack territory,” the editor of Defence Eye added. “But they did have a grandstand view of the place being flattened.”
The aircraft, which can also pick up signals intelligence including phone and radio calls, as well as WhatsApp messages, would fly up to twice a day from the RAF sovereign airbase in Akrotiri, Cyprus. With a range of more than 3,000km, they could stay aloft for missions lasting several hours, usually with cameras trained on individual buildings where hostages might be held.
Pro-Palestinian groups criticised the flights, claiming they could have been used to provide intelligence for Israeli combat operations in Gaza. But Britain has always denied this.
“It would be quite wrong for the British government to assist in the prosecution of this war in Gaza,” said David Lammy, as foreign secretary, in July. “We are not doing that. I would never do that.”
For British politicians early in the war, particularly the Conservatives before they lost power last year, the flights demonstrated the UK was contributing something following the October 7 attacks. Several of the hostages were British citizens, including Emily Damari.
The flights, which were initially supported by P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, demonstrated Britain's initial support for Israel, a relationship that soured under the Labour government as the devastation in Gaza became clear.
Israel also wanted to maintain a stable relationship with the UK as it was highly likely it was receiving high-grade intelligence from Britain’s security services about Iraq, Syria and other areas of the Middle East.
The Ministry of Defence said the surveillance flights had been withdrawn on Friday, October 10, three days before the peace deal was formally signed. “I am proud of the UK’s efforts to support the safe return of the hostages, and the professionalism of our service personnel involved,” said UK Defence Secretary John Healey.
