Admiral Radakin met the head of Israel’s military last year. (Photo: IDF / Handout)
Arms control expert calls the scale of visits “a moral failing of massive proportions”.
Britain’s most senior military personnel made at least a dozen official visits to Israel during the Gaza war, newly published government data reveals.
The trips, largely unpublicised, almost entirely took place as Israeli forces barraged Gaza and international calls for an arms embargo intensified.
The scale of these visits is revealed in recent Ministry of Defence (MoD) expense records and senior staff travel disclosures covering November 2023 to March 2025.
They detail the costs of visits by officers ranked two-star and above and senior MoD civil servants, including Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton and General Sir James Hockenhull.
Together, the trips cost more than £18,000, excluding several Royal Air Force (RAF) flights recorded as “nil return.”
Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), the London-based research charity which analysed the material, found that Britain’s defence establishment maintained regular contact with Israel’s armed forces throughout the conflict.
The findings expand on Declassified’s earlier reporting, which identified five such visits as well as a meeting by Major General Zac Stenning.
These additional records show that senior British officers continued to travel to Israel well into 2025, meeting their counterparts even as accusations of war crimes mounted.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
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People carrying Palestinian flags and banners, stage a demonstration and march to Wembley Stadium demanding Israel’s suspension from UEFA and FIFA, in London, United Kingdom on October 2, 2025. [Raşid Necati Aslım – Anadolu Agency]
Tens of thousands of signatures have been collected in England for a petition demanding that Israel be banned from international football over its actions in Gaza and calling for the cancellation of a match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv, Anadolu reports.
The petition, launched by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the UK and signed by 25,000 people, was delivered to the Football Association at Wembley Stadium by the platform’s director, Lewis Backon.
Backon said outside Wembley Stadium that teams from a state responsible for genocide and apartheid should not be playing in international football competitions.
Aston Villa will face Maccabi Tel Aviv at home in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
West Midlands Police had classified the match as “high risk” based on current intelligence and past incidents, while the Safety Advisory Group, comprised of police, the municipality and security experts, had announced that away fans would not be allowed into the stadium.
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Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
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F-35B aircrafts land at Akrotiri Royal Air Forces base near coastal city of Limassol in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. [Photo credit should read PETROS KARADJIAS/AFP via Getty Images]
The UK has ended surveillance flights above the Gaza Strip following the signing of a ceasefire agreement, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced Thursday, Anadolu reports.
It said British Shadow R1 reconnaissance aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus had conducted more than 500 missions above Gaza since December 2023.
The operations, the MoD said, were “tasked solely to locate hostages” taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
The final flight was Oct. 10, three days before the peace deal was formally signed, marking the end of the UK’s aerial intelligence operations in the region.
Defense Secretary John Healey said he was “proud” of the UK’s role in “supporting the safe return of the hostages,” and that “the safe return of all hostages, along with the immediate restoration of aid, are critical first steps in efforts to securing a lasting peace.”
The flights have drawn criticism from pro-Palestinian activists, who argued that intelligence collected by British aircraft could have been used by Israel in military operations that have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians, The National publication reported.
Scottish Greens Member of Scottish Parliament Patrick Harvie said the flights showed the UK’s “active participation in, and enabling of, genocide.”
He added that those involved “cannot claim to be unaware of the atrocities that Palestinians have been subjected to.”
The MoD maintained that the aircraft were “always unarmed” and played no combat role, emphasizing that information shared with Israeli authorities was “strictly limited to hostage rescue.”
While surveillance operations have ended, the UK continues to export weapons to Israel. According to a Channel 4 analysis, British arms exports to Israel have reached a “record high” in recent months, with more than 300 export licenses currently in place.
Rights groups have accused London of “turning a blind eye” to Israel’s actions in Gaza, though ministers have rejected the claims.
The phased ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas last week, based on a plan presented by US President Donald Trump. Phase one included the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street during the official visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London, United Kingdom, on July 17, 2025. [Thomas Krych – Anadolu Agency]
The UK officially recognises the state of Palestine, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce on Sunday ahead of the UN General Assembly, Anadolu reports.
“In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East, we are acting to keep alive the possibility of the peace and the two-state solution,” Keir Starmer said in a video statement.
He said that means a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state, adding: “At the moment, we have neither.”
In July, the prime minister said the UK would recognize the state of Palestine this September unless the Israeli government takes “substantive steps.”
It came after mounting pressure on the British government to announce the formal recognition.
Australia and Canada also announced formal recognition of Palestine earlier Sunday.
Previously, France, Luxembourg, and Malta announced similar plans to recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly.
Ahead of the announcement, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told the BBC that “now is the time to stand up for a two-state solution.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli government labelled the UK move “absurd,” ahead of Britain’s announcement.
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Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Recent UK immigration politics has focused largely on ‘getting numbers down’ by reducing the number of so-called ‘illegal’ entries, which usually involve people crossing the channel on small boats or on the backs of lorries. The government often refuses to acknowledge that the high number of ‘illegal’ entries is intrinsically linked to the lack of official routes provided for coming to the UK to claim asylum. And whilst those travelling by unofficial means may not abide by UK immigration law and documentation processes, international law states that asylum seekers cannot be punished or criminalised for the way they enter.
The 1951 Refugee Convention states that asylum seekers should not be discriminated against for their mode of entry into another country. People fleeing persecution have the right to travel to any country via any route possible in order to claim asylum, provided they inform the authorities of their presence upon arrival and have a good reason for seeking asylum.
Despite this, arrival in the UK by small boat crossings or other ‘clandestine’ routes across the Channel are frequently referred to as ‘illegal’ because the person entering does not have a valid visa in place. This is where the UK asylum system is deeply contradictory: it is not possible to claim asylum from outside the UK, and it is also not possible to obtain a visa before travelling to the UK to claim asylum.
dizzy: I suggest that people referring to small boat migrants as being illegal reflects more on their intolerance and prejudices that anything else.
Nigel Farage reminds you that he’s the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.Keir Starmer refuses to be outcnuted by Nigel Farage’s chasing the racist bigot vote.
