British military made at least 49 trips to Israel during Gaza war

Britain’s Ministry of Defence made 49 official visits to Israel since 7 October 2023, averaging almost two trips a month during the Gaza war.

The figures were obtained through a freedom of information request by the charity Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) and shared exclusively with Declassified UK.

They reveal the scale of British engagement with Israel’s armed forces during their bombardment of Gaza, which a United Nations commission of inquiry has classed as a genocide.

The number of visits is four times higher than previously disclosed in Ministry of Defence (MoD) transparency logs, which showed 12 visits by senior officials.

They included engagements by Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, General Sir James Hockenhull and Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton.

Labour’s defence secretary John Healey also travelled to Israel during the war, meeting his counterpart Yoav Gallant months before he was indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.

No data is available after 7 July 2025, meaning the total number of visits during the conflict could still rise.

In the equivalent period before the war, there had been 93 British military visits.

That the number remained so high during wartime, despite mounting allegations of atrocities, points to a sustained policy of direct contact.

Britain signed a military treaty with Israel in 2020, the details of which have never been made public.

The number of trips adds to evidence in a recent report by UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, which accused Western governments of “complicity” with Israel’s “ongoing genocide of the Palestinians”.

Albanese said Britain “played a key role in military collaboration with Israel, despite internal opposition.”

Roy Isbister from the NGO Saferworld has described the frequency of wartime visits as “a moral failing of massive proportions.”

He said it “raises serious ethical and political questions. The government seems more comfortable meeting those accused of war crimes than listening to those calling for restraint.”

An MOD spokesperson said: “As part of the concerted UK effort to support security and stability in the Middle East and to achieve a peaceful resolution following ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, we conducted defence engagement in the region alongside partners and allies to deescalate tensions in the Middle East.”