The UK will conduct surveillance flights over Israel and Gaza to search for hostage locations used by Hamas, the
Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
MoD officials said a range of unarmed aircraft would be used for the reconnaissance flights, including Shadow R1s, which are used for intelligence gathering.
Information on the potential whereabouts of captives will be shared with Israel.
“The safety of British nationals is our utmost priority,” the MoD said in a statement. “In support of the ongoing hostage rescue activity, the UK Ministry of Defence will conduct surveillance flights over the Eastern Mediterranean, including operating in airspace over Israel and Gaza.
“Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages. Only information relating to hostage rescue will be passed to the relevant authorities responsible for hostage rescue.”