UK not to disclose details of Israeli military planes landing in UK
4 Min Read
Declassified UK states that having no information revealed insinuates that UK bases are serving as effective "black sites" for foreign militaries.
-
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Downing Street in London, Friday, March 24, 2023. (AP)
According to Declassified UK, nine Israeli military aircraft landed in and took off from the UK since October 7, as confirmed by the UK government. While the Ministry of Defense (MoD) refused to provide the number initially, Declassified independently revealed that six Israeli-operated planes landed in the UK since.
Pressured by the revelation, the MoD admitted there were nine flights, answering a parliamentary question from Kenny MacAskill, the Alba MP for East Lothian.
When MacAskill asked what was on the planes, the time of their arrival and departure, and which airports they landed at, the MoD refused to reply.
Defense Minister James Heappey instead said, “It is standard practice for the Ministry of Defence to routinely authorise requests for limited numbers of allies and partners to overfly the UK and use UK air bases.”
“For operational security reasons and as a matter of policy, the MoD does not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military aircraft movements or operations,” he added.
MacAskill then asked for the next destination of the planes, but Heappey said, “It is our longstanding Defence policy to not comment on third country flight information.”
He stressed that “the Diplomatic Flight Clearance policy is a robust practice and the basis on which a foreign partner may or may not be granted permission to utilise UK air bases is dependent on the nature and purpose of their activity, which is assessed in line with Defence internal policy.”
Read next: UK conducted 50 espionage missions over Gaza for 'Israel'
'Black sites' for 'black' operations
Declassified states that this means that the UK bases are serving as effective "black sites" for foreign militaries.
Still, the outlet was able to independently confirm that the military aircraft landed in Glasgow, Birmingham, and bases in Suffolk and Oxfordshire since October 7.
The first Israeli flight uncovered left from Glasgow Prestwick Airport in southwest Scotland on November 18, albeit its arrival does not appear to have been recorded. The aircraft, IAF680, took off from Scotland just after 1 pm and arrived in "Beersheba", occupied Palestine, around 5 hours later.
Last month, Declassified documents also revealed that on January 23, a US Air Force C-17 flew from "Nevatim" air base to Turkey, afterward Cyprus, and stopped in Ramstein before heading for its final destination of Dover base in the US.
The US Department of Defense declined to reveal what was on the flight, although "Nevatim" and Dover have been key points in the delivery of US armaments to "Israel" since the bombardment on Gaza began.
If this is proven further, UK ministers and the government, alongside the US surely, can be further implicated in crimes against humanity.
It is worth noting that the MoD recently confessed to training some Israeli military personnel in the UK.
MacAskill told Declassified, “The UK has moved from inactivity on Israeli genocide to complicity in it. From allowing the US Air Force to supply weapons to Israel using its bases to now allowing their warplanes to come and go as they wish.”
He asked, “What were the Israeli military jets doing in the UK, where were they going? Did they take special forces or were troops heading to Israel?”
“All of these are legitimate questions at the best of times but now we are in the worst of times with the horror in Gaza. We need answers to these questions. It’s not just Israel but Britain and the US that need to be held to account as a matter of urgency.”
One week after October 7, the UK government announced that it had increased its military presence in the Middle East by deploying two Royal Navy ships, spy hardware, and an additional 1,000 personnel “to support Israel, reinforce regional stability and [allegedly] prevent escalation."
