Spy plane remains active in Cyprus after Gaza mission ends

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A spy plane hired by Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) to surveil Gaza has continued flights over the Mediterranean after its mission ended last week.

The MoD did not respond to questions about why the plane had made two flights from a British air base on Cyprus after all surviving hostages were released by Hamas last Monday.

The manned spy plane, known as Crook12, is owned by American firm Sierra Nevada Corporation.

It spent several hours flying in circles off the coast of Cyprus this Monday and last Friday.

Royal Air Force drones have also been operating in the same area since the ceasefire.

The flight path of an RAF drone from Akrotiri yesterday. (Screenshot: ADS-B Exchange)

Crooks

Crook12 was part of a fleet of planes used by Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) to surveil Gaza since December 2023.

Officially looking for hostages, no information has been released about whether they found anyone, with mounting concern that intelligence shared with Israel could have contributed to attacks on civilians.

Its sister plane, Crook11, once left its tracker on over Gaza revealing it flew just three streets away from a house that was bombed by Israel hours later, killing 34 civilians.

“The faces of dead children were crushed in a way that no mind or heart can describe,” a survivor previously told Declassified.

He added: “If there is evidence that British reconnaissance planes participated in the massacre committed against us, then Britain is complicit in the genocide”.

This pair of ‘Crook’ planes appeared on flight tracking websites between Cyprus and Gaza 133 times since they were first deployed in December 2024, Declassified has found.

The Royal Air Force has deployed its own fleet of Shadow R1 surveillance planes 606 times from Cyprus during the war in Gaza, according to research by the charity Action on Armed Violence.

This suggests the MoD could have launched as many as 739 surveillance sorties relating to Gaza.

The data cannot be comprehensive because the Crook planes often restricted the visibility of their trackers.

‘Mystified’

The two further flights since the ceasefire suggest the MoD may intend to keep operating surveillance flights in the eastern Mediterranean.

Defence secretary John Healey said this week that a small team of British military personnel have been sent to Israel to help with monitoring the ceasefire.

“Without boots on the ground, the team is likely to rely on a combination of drones, surveillance aircraft, satellites and other sensors to keep watch for any breaches,” the Times reported.

It comes as at least two RAF Protector drones were seen on flight tracking websites flying from Akrotiri, Britain’s air base on Cyprus.

“As far as is publicly known, these flights are the first for the RAF’s Protector RG1s outside of UK or US airspace,” the Avionist website reported.

Campaign group Genocide Free Cyprus said on Instagram the drone flights “extend British military influence from a colonial foothold, and ensure that the UK remains a key player in regional surveillance.”

Three per cent of Cyprus remains British occupied despite the island becoming independent in 1960.

Referring to the manned spy flights, a defence analyst who asked not to be named told Declassified: “I am still deeply mystified as to why the Israelis need[ed] any intelligence that these planes could detect over Gaza.

“It’s not a big secret that they [the Israelis] have fleets of drones and signals intelligence and troops on the ground. They have way more capability than anything that those planes could have.”

The MoD has refused to answer questions in parliament about its contractual relationship with Sierra Nevada.

The MoD previously told Declassified that the surveillance flights were “unarmed, do not have a combat role, and (were) solely focussed on securing the release of the hostages.”

They said that “the UK controls what information is passed on and only information relating to hostage rescue is passed to the relevant Israeli authorities. We will only pass information where we are satisfied that it will be used in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.”