UK spy planes continue flights over Gaza and Corbyn presents inquiry bill
Jeremy Corbyn
Imran Mulla reports in Middle East Eye on 21 May 2025:
The British government is facing fresh questions about its Royal Air Force (RAF) surveillance flights over Gaza – which have continued even as Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK was suspending free trade agreement talks with Israel.
Lammy made the announcement in parliament on Tuesday in response to Israel’s expanded military operations in Gaza. The foreign secretary said the UK was imposing sanctions on key Israeli settler leaders and organisations, and his Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, took the highly unusual step of summoning the Israeli ambassador.
This was a landmark moment, symbolically deeply significant, and it is sure to damage relations between Britain and Israel. But it has done nothing to stop parliamentarians asking questions. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is set to table legislation in parliament on Wednesday for an independent public inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza.
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‘Bird’s eye view of the genocide’
For months, British politicians have questioned the government about the role of a Royal Air Force base on the island of Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, just a 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv. From there, RAF shadow aircraft have conducted hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza throughout Israel’s war on the besieged enclave.