The UK has confirmed that evidence of potential war crimes collected by Royal Air Force (RAF) spy planes operating over Gaza could be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Since December, the RAF is said to have conducted hundreds of missions over and around Gaza to assist in locating hostages taken by Hamas during their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) stated that the RAF’s Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft, which also operate over Israel and international airspace, are exclusively tasked with gathering intelligence related to the hostage situation. These spy planes are not involved in gathering intelligence for any broader military operations against Hamas, which has resulted in significant civilian casualties in the region.
A spokesperson indicated that the UK would consider any formal request from the ICC for the information gathered by the RAF that might indicate evidence of war crimes. However, it is understood that no such request has yet been made.
The ICC prosecutor announced in May the pursuit of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes. Similar warrants were sought for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, who have since been killed in Israeli strikes, along with Mohammed Deif, whose status remains unverified.
Netanyahu and Gallant face accusations including “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare” and “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population” in the wake of the October 8 attacks, which resulted in around 1,200 deaths.
The MOD emphasized that the UK armed forces are not actively participating in the conflict and that RAF aircraft are not delivering weapons to Israel. “Our mandate is narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of hostages, including British nationals, with unarmed flights conducted since December for this purpose only,” the spokesperson stated.
The UK Defence Journal reported in June that the RAF had conducted over 250 Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) sorties near Gaza since December, while Al Jazeera recently noted that the number of RAF flights has surpassed 600.
Credit: Sky News
