The Royal Air Force (RAF) has conducted at least 518 surveillance flights over or near Gaza since December 2023, according to a report by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) for Declassified UK. These missions, carried out by 14 Squadron’s Shadow R1 aircraft from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, have raised serious concerns about the UK’s role in Israeli military operations, particularly regarding the potential for British intelligence to have facilitated attacks leading to significant civilian casualties in Gaza.
The flights, which were initially claimed by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to be focused on hostage recovery efforts, have been surrounded by secrecy, with little transparency or parliamentary oversight. The UK government has maintained that these missions are strictly related to locating Israeli hostages held by Hamas, but the frequency and timing of some of the sorties raise troubling questions about the true nature of the intelligence gathering and its potential use in Israeli military operations.
Between 3 December 2023 and 27 March 2025, the RAF conducted over 500 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) flights. These operations have occurred under both the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Labour) and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Conservative), with missions continuing despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In particular, flights were recorded during key Israeli military actions, including the deadly bombing of Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp in June 2024, which killed at least 274 Palestinians.
In one notable instance, an RAF Shadow R1 aircraft landed at Israel’s Nevatim Air Base in February 2024, a location associated with Israel’s F-35 fighter jets that have been central to airstrikes in Gaza. Although the UK has maintained that these flights are purely for hostage recovery, critics question whether the intelligence shared with Israel may have been used to target civilian infrastructure or contribute to broader military strategies.
Furthermore, the UK government has resisted calls for transparency and a public inquiry into the flights. Parliamentary questions about the purpose of the surveillance missions have been met with vague responses, and when inquiries have touched on the potential involvement of UK intelligence in Israeli war crimes, the government has provided little clarity. This lack of accountability has fueled concerns that Britain may be complicit in violations of international law, particularly as Israel faces allegations of genocide and war crimes at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
As human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have demanded full transparency, there are growing calls for a public inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israeli military actions. Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn has also called for a “Chilcot-style” investigation into the role of UK military collaboration with Israel, warning that parliament and the public have been kept in the dark about the full scope of Britain’s actions in Gaza.
The UK Ministry of Defence has reiterated its commitment to supporting the release of hostages, emphasizing that its surveillance flights are unarmed and focus solely on humanitarian efforts. However, the ongoing lack of clarity regarding how the gathered intelligence has been used, and whether it has played a role in deadly Israeli airstrikes, continues to spark intense debate and calls for greater scrutiny of the UK’s actions in Gaza.
