Intel from UK spy planes may be used to nail Hamas war criminals after Shadow R1s soak up pics & comms from wartorn Gaza

INTELLIGENCE from British spy planes could be used to prosecute Gaza war crimes, the Ministry of Defence has revealed.

Special forces surveillance planes have made hundreds of sorties over the bomb-blitzed strip to find hostages held by Hamas terrorists.

The Shadow R1 are packed with sensors to soak up intelligence, including imagery, communications and electronic traces of people on the ground.

The RAF says the intelligence is “particularly valuable to ground commanders”.

Hamas seized 251 hostages in its horrific October 7 attacks that left some 1,200 people dead.

Almost 42,000 have people been killed by Israel's response, and some 96,000 injured.

Asked about the intelligence the MoD said: “In line with our international obligations, we would consider any formal request from the International Criminal Court to provide information relating to investigations into war crimes.”

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan was seeking arrest warrants for three Hamas terrorist leaders who have all since been killed by Israel.

Mr Khan, a British lawyer, had accused terrorists Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif Ibrahim Al-Masri and Ismail Haniyeh of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, extermination and torture.

Sinwar and Deif were both killed in Gaza in recent months. Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in July.

Mr Khan also requested warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

In a statement issued in May, Mr Khan said there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect the Israelis of war crimes including “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”.

The MoD said the its flights over Gaza did not make it a “participant in the conflict”.

In a statement the MoD added: “The UK is not a participant in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“Our mandate is narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of the hostages only, including British nationals, with the RAF routinely conducting unarmed flights since December 2023 for this sole purpose.

“As a matter of principle, we only provide intelligence to our allies where we are satisfied that it will be used in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, and in this instance only information relating to hostage rescue is passed to the Israeli authorities.”

The Shadow R1 aircraft are based at RAF Waddington, Lincs, home of the intelligence and surveillance fleet but they have flying out of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus for missions over Gaza.

Between December and June they completed more than 250 flights, more than one a day.

Researcher , who analysed RAF flight records, said it was "reasonable to ask" of the planes had evidence of war crimes.

He told the : "They’re in a warzone apparently rife with atrocities, and I think it’s very reasonable to ask if they’ve been witness to any war crimes, if they’ve incidentally collected intelligence that could reasonably believed to involve a war crime."

The planes are operated by the RAF's 14 Squadron which was formed during World War One and fought in the Sinai and Palestine campaign.

The Squadron counts Gaza and Palestine among its many battle honours and its motto is written in Arabic. It means, "'I spread my wings and keep my promise."