UK trade department approved 34 military export licences to Israel in the two months since David Lammy announced a partial arms embargo, new data shows.
by John McEvoy
Part 3 - RAF spy flights
The committee also sought to obtain information on the role of RAF spy flights over Gaza since December 2023, and whether surveillance footage was being used to inform the government’s assessment of Israel’s compliance with IHL.
Declassified previously revealed that the RAF has flown hundreds of spy missions over Gaza in support of Israel. Those planes can gather information for “target acquisition”, and intelligence received from Israel ahead of the missions may have been obtained under torture.
Ministers were probed on how it was possible to “see the day-by-day destruction” of Gaza with “more than 50,000 buildings destroyed”, as seen by the RAF spy planes, and not conclude that Israel’s conduct is disproportionate.
Declassified previously revealed that the RAF has flown hundreds of spy missions over Gaza in support of Israel. Those planes can gather information for “target acquisition”, and intelligence received from Israel ahead of the missions may have been obtained under torture.
Ministers were probed on how it was possible to “see the day-by-day destruction” of Gaza with “more than 50,000 buildings destroyed”, as seen by the RAF spy planes, and not conclude that Israel’s conduct is disproportionate.
Lord Coaker claimed that surveillance footage “is purely and simply used in terms of hostage [rescue] and seeing whether we can locate the hostages”.
None of the RAF sorties have resulted in the successful release of any British hostages in Gaza. There is only one surviving UK hostage in the strip, Emily Damari, who is a 28-year-old dual national and the cousin of Lord Levy.
The Foreign Office further admitted that it has not requested surveillance footage from the Ministry of Defence in order to inform its assessment of Israel’s compliance with IHL.
None of the RAF sorties have resulted in the successful release of any British hostages in Gaza. There is only one surviving UK hostage in the strip, Emily Damari, who is a 28-year-old dual national and the cousin of Lord Levy.
The Foreign Office further admitted that it has not requested surveillance footage from the Ministry of Defence in order to inform its assessment of Israel’s compliance with IHL.
Stephen Lillie, the Foreign Office’s director for defence and international security, told the committee: “To the best of my knowledge we have not asked for that information from RAF flights”.
In addition, the Foreign Office acknowledged that it had reviewed 413 potential violations of IHL by Israel in Gaza. However, it found that IHL had been breached in only two cases, meaning 99.5% of all incidents were found to be inconclusive.
In addition, the Foreign Office acknowledged that it had reviewed 413 potential violations of IHL by Israel in Gaza. However, it found that IHL had been breached in only two cases, meaning 99.5% of all incidents were found to be inconclusive.
Source, links:
Comments
Post a Comment