18 hours ago
UK sends spy plane over Gaza as Madleen threatened by Israel
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition's Madleen vessel set off for Gaza on June 1. On Sunday, Israel's defence secretary Israel Katz instructed the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to intercept the ship if it continues towards Gaza.
Katz said earlier on Sunday: "I have instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen does not reach Gaza. To the anti-semitic Greta and her friends, I say clearly: You should turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.
"The State of Israel will not allow anyone to violate the naval blockade on Gaza, the primary purpose of which is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas, a murderous terror organisation that holds our hostages and commits war crimes."
The crew of the Madleen have repeatedly called on the UK Government to offer "protection", given the ship is flying a UK flag.
Despite this, shortly after 7pm on Sunday, the UK's Cyprus base RAF Akrotiri sent a spy plane to surveil the Palestinian region. The aircraft is still in the air as of 7.30pm.
Publicly available flight data shows that a Shadow R1 – a plane described by the RAF as capable of 'comprehensive intelligence gathering' that is 'particularly valuable to ground commanders' – flew towards Gaza before information transponders were cut off.
Journalist Matt Kennard shared a graphic which showed the flight path and stated: "Britain sends another spy flight from RAF Akrotiri over Gaza to collect intelligence for 'I$rael' as the Madleen is threatened by the regime."
More to follow.
