The UK Defence Journal has observed frequent flights to and from Israel by British military aircraft, here’s what they’re doing.
An MoD spokesperson has confirmed that the flights are part of efforts to assist with the departure of British nationals.
“The RAF has operated 17 flights into Tel Aviv in order to support the UK’s diplomatic engagement in country as well as to assist with the departure of British nationals. None of these flights transported any lethal aid for foreign nations.“
British C-17 lands in Tel Aviv, Israel – British C-17 transport aircraft continue to function as part of an 'air bridge' between Tel Aviv and RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus. pic.twitter.com/YhGflriapF
— UK Defence Journal (@UKDefJournal) October 15, 2023
The flights have been ongoing for some time, the first flight we recorded occurred on the 15th of October but I understand that they’ve been underway since not long after the 7th, when tensions flared up.
The UK is continuing to commit a sizable portion of its air mobility force to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, primarily to move citizens evacuated from Israel in the last while. pic.twitter.com/Ks1dpJL7PI
— UK Defence Journal (@UKDefJournal) October 22, 2023
The UK continues to commit a sizable portion of its air mobility force to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, primarily to move citizens evacuated from Israel in the last while.
As I type this, a number of RAF transport aircraft are in the air heading to the region.
It’s not what they’re taking out of Israel that’s the interesting bit, but what they’re probably taking in…of which we’ll probably never know.
Needs to be a formal question in parliament on the matter. If they refuse to disclose or state it’s operational security then that is contempt of parliament and a matter the speaker of the house will need to resolve. Deploying lethal aide to a foreign nation, who don’t seem to be lacking in lethality, should be a matter for parliament to debate and vote upon.
Did you bother to read the article before getting your knickers in a twist? It explicitly says “None of these flights transported any lethal aid for foreign nations“. It’s even in bold for those with bad eyesight.
Do you trust them to tell the truth? Strange that they are using A400 heavy freighters for the job? Sure the RAF have more suitable airplanes for people.
Yes they do have more suitable planes for the carriage of passengers. The planes being used though are fitted with defensive capabilities, i:e flares, missile warning systems etc. They are also capable of operating from shorter or unprepared strips. They will also be bringing out diplomatic freight, and also sick and wounded (it is a war zone). C17s and a400s are ideal for the job. I’m sure if it was a straight pick up we could’ve sent easyjet!
Then why bother ever asking questions?
It states C17 which can be adapted to carry more passengers than any other RAF aircraft as well as providing in flight medical care. Can also land on shorter runways than a passenger craft and has better survivability if shot at when landing or taking off. Israel doesn’t need any lethal aid they have plenty.
That is true, however I still think the question be asked in Parliament to confirm the truth of that statement as many (esp those with an agenda) may doubt its veracity when given invisibly at that level (just refer to the Covid Enquiry for the level of potential obscuration). If any denial is given in the House it is much more substantial as any Minister/PM giving it is far less likely to lie or mislead as even Johnson found out to his cost when allegedly doing so. It’s only a matter of time before the hard left and Muslim groups start to claim we are supplying weapons used to murder women and babies and we know where such inflaming talk can lead even without any foundation and denials thereafter will have little effect I fear. But when have we had a Govt that is remotely capable of anticipating problems before they go toxic.
What has happened to Tony Blair for the countless lies he told in Parliament ?
Nothing but we all know that he got away with murder
We voted a government in to make the decisions for us. Some people are capable of making decisions some aren’t. If you don’t like the way the government does not tell us everything vote another party in and see what happens. The military is employed for our safety, foreign or domestic and to demand what the army navy raf are doing goes well beyond yous and my pay grade. Its called national security. The rights and wrongs of the conflict is if you throw stones at a tiger from a far nothing will happen go into his cage and throw stones then you can’t be upset at the outcome. Yes it’s bad what’s happening but they did target civilian children to start off with.
Never trust your own side. Guaranteed if the flights were to rescue British nationals the planes came back to Cyprus empty. Tax payers money so it doesn’t matter either way.
The incompetence is staggering.
Just another day in fantasy land.
Could have not said it better myself all he is missing from is name is end
People only see what they want to see 🙈
Says in one thing but honestly adhered is subjective.
👍
Read the story!!!!!!!!
I know to keep people like you happy why don’t the military take out a weekly ad out in the national press, stating everything they do, even though they could divulge national security information. They could also discuss it openly in Parliament or the Papers when or if UKSF have to go in to rescue UK hostages that Hamas has.
Live in the real world will you.
I’d expect that elements of our special forces are already in place
Your post reminds me of an interaction I had with somebody on Twitter the other day. Somebody had posted about how there was a ceasefire on the 6th of Oct until Hamas decided to send in 3000 terrorists to murder death kill inside Israel . he was immediately shot down with the retort that the bunfight in Israel is the worst that he has seen since Rwanda and Darfur and that actually Muslims (his wording not mine) pale into insignificance behind Christians when it comes to Genocide. I replied with:
1) Armenian Genocide (1915-16) : 1.5 million killed
2) East Pakistan Genocide (1971) : 3 Million Killed
3) Second Sudanese Civil war (1983-2005) 5 Million killed.
In turn I was targeted by some wonk who demanded to know why I didn’t include Nazis Germany , I replied that the post I was addressing was religion specific and the last I look the one balled Cpl didnt have a day job at alis Snack bar. Poster was having none of that and demanded to know why I hadn’t included the Nazis regime . I replied did you even read my post. To which he replied…no.
It was Mussolini who had one ball. Hitler had IBS.
👍
I’m sick of the whole thing, everybody seems to have forgotten about the war in the Ukraine
Have a day off will ya.
Not really the UK hands out or sells lots of vey lethal things to many nations..it’s not voted on in parliament…parliament is for a balance of accountability of the executive as well as passing statute..it’s not there to make every decision of government…that’s for the executive to decide and civil service to enact.
The rest of the world would be qui happy to see the whole middle east reduced to ashes and the n the cesspool can be forgotten about once and for all
“None of these flights transported any lethal aid for foreign nations”
I hope they are shipping lethal aid into Israel. The more lethal the better to completely wipe out Hamas.
That is what Egypt and Jordan and Saudi Arabia want but will never say in public.
Why senf C17’s? Because they have countermeasures.
Uk company’s don’t have to get a vote in parliament to sell weapons to sovereign nations they just have to have a controlled goods licence Israel can buy what it wants and uk company’s can sell what they like there doesn’t need to be any vote in parliament hopefully the IDF is buying loads of weapons from us and in the future we will need double the flights into there country
“None of these flights transported any lethal aid for foreign nations”
I guess there could be a question in parliament on the matter and then put the Tory government on the spot. When labour come to power they will then need to remember to check this outcome and if the Tory government were found to be lying to parliament then that is contempt and a serious event.
Unlike the Pro Palestinian and opposite far right supports heading to London today, Armistice day I’m a firm believer in parliamentary democracy and the rule of the law.
We are in for a very interesting day today. Let’s hope the Met Police can keep the 2 sides apart and the Armistice day remembrance events protected and respected. That after all is the most important aspect of today, for the vast majority of citizens of this democratic nation.
Well put.
You believe in the rule of law, but sounds like you don’t believe in free speech. Also you don’t believe in national security, Labour is not in Government they have no legal reason to know what the government of today is doing. If they come into power then they have a right to know while they are in government or should we drag up everything decision past governments have made Labour decisions as well.
Actually the role of his majesties loyal opposition is to question and scrutinise the executive (government), it is a formal and bound role within our parliamentary system. It is a statutory role bound in law and comes with a specific government salary. The opposition have a very specific legal requirement to know what the government of the time is doing and are keep briefed on national security matters..very specifically a number of them are made privy councillors so that they are able to have full national security briefs… for a government to withhold very important national security issues from the leader of the opposition would have profound implications for the running of government and our democracy…
As stated by the
INSTITUTE
FOR
GOVERNMENT
The government is expected to keep the leader of the opposition, and sometimes other opposition party leaders, informed on matters of major national importance. On 31October 2020, Johnson phoned Starmer to let him know that the government would shortly be announcing a second national lockdown.
As you see the word EXPECTED to keep the leader of the opposition informed of national importance, that does not mean NATIONAL SECURITY which is a different matter that is not discussed with the opposition and definitely not in open Chambers for open discussion.
you are dancing on the head of a pin, When they use the word “expected” in regards to our constitutional law they mean the opposition will be be briefed or there will be a very compelling reason why not…it’s not an optional “we will do it if we like” the loyal opposition is the constitution government in waiting..they need to be informed because.
1) there are some potential constitutional triggers that could cause them to become a government very quickly, and having a prime minister who have not been kept brief is a to put it bluntly is very dangerous .
2) the role of the loyal opposition is to prepare for government with future government policy..you don’t want your future government to have made up its policy structure in thin air….so they will have information on the security outlook to allow them to develop policy on the future of national security when they get in power. They are also provided a full set of resources to do this including around 6million pounds during a term.
3) the government for the sake of national security will need to opposition to support them…why do you think in times of dire national security the leader of the opposition suddenly tends to suddenly start supporting the government line.
4) the role of cross party parliamentary scrutiny committees is to ensure good working of government that includes national security, these committees are given briefs including national security briefs.
to not brief the active privy counsellor who need to know, the leader of the opposition, the applicable cross party scrutiny committees would lead to a failure of parts of the constitutional role….their are always some very specific exceptions…which is why the word expected is used..
as for your use of the term “ they have not legal reason to know” which is not correct and completely Allen to the role of the opposition in our government….they actually have a constitutional right to know. The loyal opposition is not just hanging around it’s a very specific part of our constitution.
why do you think Corbin was such an issue as leader of the loyal opposition..there was a worry he would not take oath as a privy councillor….the assumption always is the loyal opposition is loyal to the crown as they need the information…..
What a stupid comment.
Devolution, supreme court, TRS2 cancellation to buy more expensive US planes. Iraq 2. That was when Labour overall was a descent party slightly left of centre representing the lower paid etc. Not the extremists anti British ,( especially if your white male) Liberal elitist clique we have today. God help this country when they get in power. That will be the worse crime in the history of the Tory party. Not listening to the people !
Why? What do you think they would say that has not already been said in the statements above?
You already don’t have rule of the law when MET Police have different policies for same crimes and “protests”.
MET Police politics that rewards who makes intimidation and advocates violence and extermination.
The events yesterday were nicely teed up by those with agendas on both sides.
I don’t actually see any contradiction between demos and Parliamentary democracy, even if I don’t like the causes. I think that the main villain of the piece this last week has been the Home Secretary, who to me has stepped outside the acceptable limits of her role.
For me this Armistice Day I’ve been learning about the Shot at Dawn memorial, and reflecting that for me we Remember both for the sake of those who died – I lost two from my grandparents’ generation, one of those who killed himself after he came home – and also to try and make sure that we don’t let history repeat itself.
That includes remembering the things that we got wrong, for whatever reason – including executions of our own for cowardice, which perhaps now 100 years later would be more manifest as intolerance of military people who have been traumatised.
Home Secretary is the only person correct on this. But will prefer let
this fester and you soon you will be Lebanon .
You don’t even realise the enemy you have front of you.
Afghanistan, Sudan, Gaza. That the world has beoming a more dangerous place is hightlighted by the frequency of civilian evacuation operations.
Darfur, Armenia, Pakistan(Afghanistan), invasions of Europe and US.
I don’t see anything sinister about any of this, anyone who keeps an eye on ADS-B or other flight trackers knows that the RAF have been flying into and over Israeli Airspace for years. Sometimes they just stick their beacons on the minute they reach Israeli airspace(which looks when they just appear over the River Jordan).
And not just Transports but Tanker, Drones, Typhoons and even a couple of F35B’s for the last few years. We both keep a very close watch on Hezbolah and ISIS in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and one of the safest routes is to overfly Israel.
One thing you never see are Israeli aircraft over their own airspace, but sometimes they have recce aircraft or tankers out over the med south of Cyprus and even Crete.
Blimey talk about conspiracy theories coming out off the woodwork🙄
Why are we wasting airframe life on scarce C-17 resources when the Voyagers were basically built for this task and available in numbers?
Jack wrote:
“”Why are we wasting airframe life on scarce C-17 resources when the Voyagers were basically built for this task and available in numbers?””
Could it be that the C17s are fitted with defensive aide suites
Good point!
Medevac too I think.
*Stratevac.
A term I didn’t know. Thanks.
CASEVAC= Evacuation of Wounded Personnel on an improvised or non-dedicated platform
MEDEVAC= Evacuation of Wounded Personnel on a dedicated medical platform
STRATEVAC= Evacuation of Wounded Personel from an in theatre Medical Facility to the UK (platform Agnostic)
Those are the main three. Typically you should escalate through them, but in theory there is no fixed order.
Thanks Dern.
So are the voyagers. They come standard from airbus with a defensive aid suite (DAS). Thales I think.
Precisely.
If you know something the experts in RAF don’t, feel free to share.
More Atlas being built I believe.
I’m confused. Commercial aircraft are flying in and out of Israel. Is it not easier to tell folks that want to leave to book a flight? Why do the U.K. have to pay and use RAF aircraft to move people out of a safe country.
Are there laws about needing to move people out of areas and when they need to be used?
Pay and book a flight? Out of a war zone? Really. 🙄
Yes there are 5 flights going to and from london tomorrow. Everyday flights have been going. It’s not really a war zone outside of Gaza. Well not much more than the usual.
The Islamic militants involved would love to shoot down an airliner filled with infidels, the Provos used to call them “spectaculars”
This is why we shouldn’t allow dual nationality. I bet you pounds to pennies every “British” citizen in that region is also holding a passport for Israel or one of the neighbours and deeply invested in the local causes but none of ours.
I really hope we are not supplying Israel. No question hamas needs to be held accountable for their horrific actions but the way Israel is going about that is not the answer. There is no good/bad in this conflict just innocent people dying on both sides.
I fully support the right of Israel to defend itself but the way it is going about it is troubling. I understand that Hama’s (like any despicable terrorist organisation) will have embedded themselves in among civilian infrastructure to use them as human shields. However that is what special forces are for! There is no need to flatten a civilian area in the way they are doing… However it would be nice to see protesters condemning Hama’s and Iran in the same way they are condemning Israel. There can never be peace while those two are meddling.
I think the problem here is scale, Hamas is not a set of terrorist cells with limited resources, it’s a committed Military 30,000 strong, who have been trained to fight by veterans, are fully committed to their cause, willing to die and are Heavily armed…they have Been turning Gaza into a fortress for the last 17 years…they have a large supply of anti tank missiles, anti air missiles, estimates to have maybe up to 100,000 rockets..they even have some ballistic missiles stashed away…Hamas managed to undertake a land, sea and air invasion with 3000 men across what is probably the most heavily defended frontier on the planet…this is a war, that Hamas want to fight..involving 10,000s of combatants on both sides not mopping up a few terror cells…if Israel had sent in limited and lightly armed special forces, they would have ended up losing their special forces.the sad truth is that Hamas have been setting up this fight for a long time, they have designed it to 1) bog down large numbers of the IDF and kill as may as possible 2) get as many of the civilian population killed as possible, to enrage the populations of the camp David treaty nations and loss Isreal international support…I suspect the next move in the game will be Hezbollah fully engaging in the north with its 100,000 fighters and 200,000 rockets, ballistic missiles etc….this will cause Israel to react into Lebanon…further enraging the Arab populations, Iran will use the excuse to step in formally…as will Syria…Jordan etc will be having a nightmare keeping its population in line if it does not also support…I think there is a very good chance this is long planned by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as an end game against Israel.
Well put👍 But try explaining that to the well intentioned sheep who turned out yesterday and are calling for a ‘cease fire’🙄good luck with that!
You tories really don’t care about civilians in gaza do you?
“across what is probably the most heavily defended frontier on the planet” What an absolutely shameless gaslighter you are Hamas broke through the “most heavily defended frontier on the planet” with a freaking bulldozer. The deeper you get into your paragraphs, the more liberties you take with reality. This is a consistent pattern with you. It might be time to get some help.
Actually Ron please name a more heavily guarded frontier….there are none…it’s a frontier filled with automatic weapons platforms and sensors…Hamas did not just break through with a bulldozer, they used drones to assault and destroy the automated weapons platforms, they used para gliders, they even used their 400 strong navel infantry force as well as seaborne drones to undertake a seaborne assault …it was a carefully planned and executed operation involving 3000 fighters, if you going to accuse someone of gaslighting at least do them the Honour of reading around the subject first.
to be honest you keep trolling my posts…with your own gaslighting….
less of the insults as well your becoming unpleasant.
I am sorry, but that does not warrant the destruction of civilian areas that we are seeing. And Hamas raided across the border pretty much unimpeded. It was hardly a well fortified barrier if someone in a tractor can knock through it and 3000 people flood across and have enough time to raid a music festival and numerous villages and then head back with 200 hostages and 1500 people killed…
Anyway, special forces and elite troops supported by armour etc should be able to deal with Hamas without the scale of destruction they are currently causing. It does not matter how many rockets Iran has provided, they are not much use in an urban environment or in tunnels… Israel is supposed to have one of the most highly trained and high tech armies on earth, but they are literally WW2 style carpet bombing.
I read many stories about how the UK forces dealt with similar human shield tactics during Iraq and Afghanistan and it did not include mass bombardment of civilians. It did however include very slow methodical missions to flush out terrorists with every possible effort to spare civilian lives. It is not always possible to keep civilians alive as the Terrorists are always trying to get you to kill them so they can use it as a publicity campaign but you can at least try your very best.
It was well fortified, but designed to stop small incursions of suicide bombers and squads… It had sensors, automated weapons platforms etc Let me know if you find evidence of a more fortified boarder…but I’ve not found one….as for a the assault Hamas undertook I suggest reading the open source analysis….it involved drone attacks to take out the automated weapons towers, the use of para gliders, assaults on the manned checkpoints, assaults on key bases to lock down the response of the IDF, they even undertook a seabourne assault using their 400 trained seaborne infantry, all the will undertaking a bombardment using around 7000 artillery rockets….it was by an means a sophisticated assault designed to tie up the IDF so they could attack the civilians population.
As for UK and US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq…and the US triggered war on terror that has so far lead to the direct and indirect deaths of around 4.5 million people…( Watson institute for international and public affairs…in Iraq the direct civilian death toll from U.S. and partners ( so direct war deaths on civilians for US UK and other friendly forces is around 280,000-315,000..in Afghanistan it was estimated to be 70,000 civilians directly killed in the war..even in Pakistan it’s estimated that around 25,000 civilians have been directly killed due to the war on terror..the US, UKs and it’s allies literally bathed in blood for a decade and in truth none of our nations were directly threatened with complete destruction in the way Israel is..so do I like the fact Gaza is being bombed, no I don’t, should it end yes…but even if Isreal stopped today..Hamas would keep attacking..but I I’m sorry I think anyone in the UK or US who somehow thinks that we are any different that Isreal either does not understand the limits of what our nations have or will do to to defend themselves….we have done it over and over again,.,
war is by its nature utterly amoral, we pretend to put laws around it and limits but these are a thin shield…and even within that thin law there are some may exceptions…that all nations bend to their own need when required, ours included……I think Israel has made some really bad decisions around Gaza and the West Bank…I think what is happening is awful, but it’s what Hamas wanted to happen, Isreal is a very small nation surrounded by a sea of people that want to destroy it and have actively done their best to destroy it from the very beginning….you can ask Israel to stop fighting but Hamas and Hezbollah will just keep attacking for as long as Israel exists or as they put it till judgment day comes…personally I think, the only thing that would have prevented the number of civilians deaths is if Israel was willing to not use air power and risk suffering large numbers of casualties in the IDF or if Egypt had been willing to fully open its boarders…..but in reality neither nation would be willing to do this…
I do think you are overestimating the IDF and underestimating Hamas as well as Hezbollah and other threats..if Hamas was easy to deal with the IDF would have done it years age..Hamas is a well equipped and trained force 30,000 strong, they are armed for urban fighting and dung in…they and their allies have probably around 1000 anti tank missiles, mortars, anti air system s and other heavy weapons….Hezbollah is 100,000 strong and has even more heavy weapons.
Israel is a small nation In population size ( 9million) and even smaller in square miles, with a very large board compared to size…Isreal is also almost unique in the fact every boarder is faces by an enemy that has invade it in living memory..it’s also an nation that could be overun in no time…it’s only 15 miles wide at some points…you could cut it half in a day…so the IDF face a geostrategic position like no other nation…they also face the fact that if they are overrun…Hezbollah and Hamas would actually launch a full scale genocide on the civilian population ( as in hunt them down and butcher them)..so the IDF always face the situation that they cannot exchange space for time like every other nation…they have to stand and die or stand and win.
the IDF is only 160,000 strong, with the vast majority being conscripts..yes it’s a professional and advanced force but it’s still a conscript army….losing the IDF is literally losing Israelis future population.
What does that 160,000 conscript army have to do at present
1) be prepared to face off with Hezbollah ( 100,000 strong) in a full scale war, that could start at any time.
2) fight an urban war in Gaza with Hamas ( 30,000 stong)
3) be engaged in the West Bank
4) guard it boarders with Syria, Jordan and Egypt, just incase there is a state on state war ( which could happen the way things are going).
Israel is in a precarious position and knows it, they are rightly or wrongly reacting with extreme violence..personally I think anyone who thinks The UK would not do exactly the same if it was in the same geostrategic position as Isreal has not read our history…do I like it no I don’t…
I would have expected someone in a military site to know a bit about military, or just be a bit honest if that applies.
Can you please explain what happened differently in Fallujah?
Oh btw i forgot US Army used white phosphorus grenades to rat out bunkers and houses transformed in bunkers.
The bias is outstanding.
The key difference here is that Fallujah was largely evacuated by civilians…
Why troubling? do you think you can do a comfortable for diner war?
There is no problem with scale, and if they want and should do it correctly they have to clean Southern Gaza too.
It’s been great to see everyone show their true colors in regards to this conflict, not least invincible Likud leader Netanhayu who apparently let the whole thing happen and whose infamy in the 21st century might be unrivaled once this whole thing is over. There’s nothing quite like taking sides in a disastrous, ethnic religious war between two right-wing groups, with far reaching, highly negative consequences not even the pedantic schoolboy among you has yet pondered.
Precisely, it is great to see the colours. I expect yours would change with time. The time is coming that will not get your information only from BBC, The Guardian, The Independent and others.
Question mark.
Did you already saw what happened to the Mercedes car dealer stand in Gaza?
Flattened by israel?
Actually Ron a lot of people on this site who don’t actually agree with your stance have pondered greatly on the outcome of this and some have studied the. Geopolitical, geostrategic, historical and religious background to the Arab Israel conflict for years.
But at the moment anyone who says anything other than Isreal is the enemy of peace get two barrels from you.
The simple reality is the Jewish people and Isreal did not start this hate and conflict, you can if you wish go back a few years and say well Isreal did this and drove out the Arab Muslims from their land, but I can show you another hit of history that shows the Arab Muslims and Christians also drove out the Jews.
Yes their are some intractable Zionists who what the whole of the historical area of Palestinian to be Isreali, but do you know what they had been put in a box and for decades isreali wanted a two state solution..but it always got attacked by its neighbours who wanted/needed to destroy it. That is what has given the likes of Netanyahu primacy…
its amazing that in no case have you every really accepted that the majority of Israel’s neighbours want to and try to destroy it ( this is documented fact I’m afraid). Isreal is a small nation it could be overrun very quickly by people who want to kill all the Jews..infact need to kill Jews for their religion’s beliefs, will you accept or acknowledge that… no you will not.
Do I think what Israel has done in the West Bank was right, no I think it was both morally and legally wrong, I think the settlers should not have been allowed to move in, I also think that the moment Fatah renounced the fact it believed Israel should be destroyed and a peaceful settlement was the only way, Israel should have embraced that, removed all troops, removed the settlers and supported fatah in becoming a fully function nation recognised by the UN, it should have then invested massively in that new nation to up the standards of living..
But I’m afraid Gaza is fundamentally a different question. Isreal did disengage with Gaza remove all the settlements and there was a chance for peace, what destroyed that option in Gaza was Hamas, the fact the population voted for Hamas as their government, which lead to Hamas destroying all opposition ( including Fatah) and launching immediate attacks on Israel..Israel then reacted to Hamas gaining power by sealing its boarder with Gaza and enacting a navel blockade…what do you think the UK would have done if it had a neighbour that’s governments avowed aim was its destruction and then undertook an almost permanent bombardment over the boarder…up until the events of Oct 7 Israel had actually reacted in a far more passive way than any western nation would have done..
.. you need only look at Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror to see the extent that western nations react to a threat..US and it’s allies including the UK have accepted something like 260,000 to 315,000 Civilian casualties as part of its war in Iraq, world wide it’s likely around 4 million people lost their lives directly or indirectly due to the war on terror ( the attack on the twin trade centre unleashed a catastrophe across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan and Pakistan)..it’s seems we can accept the Christian west overreaction massively to a threat that was not even existential, when it comes to Israel there is a different mind set, even though Israel does face and existential threat and destruction.
So do I want Gaza bombed, no I don’t, sadly this has nothing to do with right or wrong, Israel thinks it’s in a fight for survival and what you I or any western leader thinks is irrelevant….The Truth is Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran will never let Isreal live in peace and will always seek its destruction, as they put it “until judgement day”. So I don’t see what options Isreal has that are peaceful in Gaza. I don’t like or agree with what is happening but I cannot see another choice and I seriously think that on past performance if the UK or US was threatened or attacked to the extent Israel’s has been since its inception the overall response since the start of the Arab Israeli conflict would have been far worse ( just look what we have done in living memory,what did we do to Germany, Japan and Iraq..that tells you what we would do).
Not sure what posts your reading. Most say it’s a disaster. When u post how to fix this instead of issuing nonsense some may listen.
Hamas won’t stand and fight or leave Israel alone. If Isreal does nothing they get attacked. If they try and call out Hamas to fight they hide.
All the death and injured stats get published by Hamas so it’s probably not the truth. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of death and suffering.
If Hamas cared about the people it supposedly represented it would have said all civilians will evacuate a certain area and we will be there. Bring it on.
It’s time to sort out this mess.
Israel is not helping really.
Give the West Bank a state with defined borders and Respect them Invest is trade, infrastructure, airport etc and set time lines for making things better. Make lives better for those civilians. This also has the benefit of showing Gaza citizens what they can have.
GCHQ in Cyprus. And the RAF flights into Israel. Both have offered assistance for years. But the cover story of diplomatic exchange and flying out UK nationals. Isnt actually far from the truth. Clearly the extra flights are supplying some kind of technology that Israel hasnt home produced or can supplied by the US. What could it be? Ground radar, robotics and signals. Not leathal of course
Lets just say there are assets in the region.
What is really interesting is the amount of foreign Military planes flying to cyprus. This “aircraft carrier” has really become the base for most western military flights. Apparently, german gsg9 and KSK (german SAS equivalent) are currently based there for potential missions (according to german press). This makes it very likely that others are there too.