Israeli prime minster Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza<\/a>, despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad<\/strong>. \u201cWe intend to,\u201d Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News Channel when asked if Israel would take over the entire coastal territory. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don\u2019t want to govern it. We don\u2019t want to be there as a governing body.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Netanyahu made the comments shortly before a meeting he was due to have on Thursday with a small group of senior ministers<\/strong> to discuss plans for the military to take control of more territory in Gaza. Two government sources told Reuters any resolution by the security cabinet would need to be approved by the full cabinet, which may not meet until Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Israeli media has reported part of the security cabinet meeting. The IDF\u2019s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has warned Benjamin Netanyahu about the hostages still in Gaza<\/strong>, according to broadcaster Channel 12. \u201cThe lives of the hostages will be in danger if we embark on a plan to occupy Gaza,\u201d the broadcaster reports him as saying. \u201cThere is no way to guarantee that we will not be harmed by them. Our forces are worn out, the military equipment needs maintenance, and there are humanitarian and sanitary problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has responded to accusations earlier from the medical NGO M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res<\/strong> (MSF), who called for the closure of GHF and described its food distribution sites in Gaza as having become sites of \u201corchestrated killing and dehumanisation\u201d. GHF, a US- and Israeli-backed aid organisation operating in Gaza, said in a statement: \u201cMSF\u2019s accusations are both false and disgraceful \u2013 amplifying a disinformation campaign orchestrated by the Hamas-linked Gaza health ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Of the 42 people killed on Thursday, at least 13 were seeking aid<\/strong> in an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds. Another two were killed on roads leading to nearby sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor, according to Nasser hospital, which received the bodies, AP reported.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n A footballer known as the \u201cPalestinian Pel\u00e9\u201d has been killed <\/a>in an Israeli attack in southern Gaza<\/strong>, according to the Palestine Football Association (PFA). Suleiman al-Obeid was killed on Wednesday when Israeli forces attacked civilians waiting for humanitarian aid, the PFA said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n There is an upward trend in the number of trucks entering Gaza but it is still below what was agreed between the EU and Israel under a deal last month<\/strong> on improving humanitarian access, the bloc\u2019s foreign policy and humanitarian arms said in a document seen by Reuters on Thursday. The UN and other partners report that 463 trucks were off-loaded at crossing points to Gaza between 29 July and 4 August, the document said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Israeli authorities returned the body of a Palestinian activist killed by an Israeli settler last week<\/strong>, after female Bedouin relatives launched a hunger strike to protest against the authority\u2019s decision to hold his body in custody, reports the Associated Press. The hunger strike was a rare public call from Bedouin women who traditionally mourn in private. Witnesses said Awdah al-Hathaleen was shot and killed by a radical Israeli settler during a confrontation caught on video last month.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson <\/a>are among more than 200 writers who have signed a letter calling for an \u201cimmediate and complete\u201d boycott of Israel until the people of Gaza are given adequate food, water and aid<\/strong>. Hanif Kureishi, Brian Eno, Elif Shafak, George Monbiot, Benjamin Myers, Geoff Dyer and Sarah Hall also signed the letter, which advocates the cessation of all \u201ctrade, exchange and business\u201d with Israel.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Human Rights Watch have called on governments worldwide to suspend their arms transfers to Israel<\/strong> after deadly airstrikes on two Palestinian schools last year, reports the Associated Press. Human Rights Watch said an investigation did not find any evidence of a military target at either school.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Gaza has seen its highest monthly figure of acute malnutrition in children, with hunger-related deaths rising in the territory, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said<\/strong> on Thursday. He added that malnutrition is widespread in the territory, reports Reuters.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Demonstrations have been planned across Israel on Thursday evening to protest against the expected security cabinet decision<\/strong>, reports the Associated Press. On Thursday morning, almost two dozen relatives of hostages being held in Gaza set sail from southern Israel towards the maritime border with Gaza, where they broadcast messages from loudspeakers on boats to their relatives in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Police on Thursday said they had charged the first three people in England and Wales with supporting activist group Palestine Action since it was banned<\/strong> under anti-terrorism laws. Two women and a man were charged under the UK\u2019s Terrorism Act of 2000 after their arrest at a protest in central London on 5 July, the capital\u2019s Metropolitan police force said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Eyal Zamir vowed on Thursday to continue expressing the military\u2019s position \u201cwithout fear\u201d<\/strong> ahead of the expected security cabinet meeting. \u201cWe will continue to express our position without fear, in a pragmatic, independent, and professional manner,\u201d Zamir said according to a military statement reported by Agence France-Presse.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Indonesia will convert a medical facility on its currently uninhabited island of Galang to treat about 2,000 injured residents of Gaza<\/strong>, who will return home after recovery, a presidential spokesperson said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Muslim-majority Indonesia has sent humanitarian aid to Gaza after Israel started an offensive in October 2023 that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians (the Gaza health ministry doesn\u2019t distinguish between civilians and combatants).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n US president Donald Trump said it was important that Middle Eastern countries join the Abraham Accords<\/strong>, saying it will ensure peace in the region. \u201cNow that the nuclear arsenal being \u2018created\u2019 by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords,\u201d Trump wrote in a social media post on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The US has presented Lebanon with a proposal for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year<\/strong>, along with ending Israel\u2019s military operations in the country and the withdrawal of its troops from five positions in south Lebanon, according to copy of a Lebanese cabinet agenda reviewed by Reuters.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.11 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n It\u2019s 3am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv and we\u2019re shutting this live blog now. You can read our latest full report with the key developments here: Fears for Palestinians and hostages as Netanyahu plans full Gaza occupation<\/a>. Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.23 EDT<\/p>\n In Australia, a prominent Jewish community leader has said Israel<\/a> has no choice but to take control of Gaza if it wants to achieve its goal of defeating Hamas and freeing the militant group\u2019s hostages.<\/strong><\/p>\n Alex Ryvchin<\/strong>, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, also said it appeared inevitable Australia\u2019s government would recognise a Palestinian state in the near future, Australian Associated Press is reporting.<\/p>\n Ryvchin said Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong>\u2019s comments that Israel intends to take over the entire Gaza Strip were welcome because it would mean the defeat of Hamas.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that the worst thing that could happen is any form of civilian return to Gaza<\/a>,\u201d Ryvchin told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.<\/p>\n When you have a situation where Hamas refuses to lay down its arms, refuses to release the hostages, refuses the ceasefire that\u2019s been on the table since the end of May, it leaves no choice but to complete the job militarily.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s clearly what the prime minister is planning to do.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Alex Ryvchin, co-chair of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. Photograph: Joel Carrett\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.53 EDT<\/p>\n An Israeli kibbutz that was ravaged during Hamas\u2019s October 2023 attacks has suspended a cornerstone-laying event in protest against the Israeli security cabinet meeting over Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s plan to take full control of Gaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n The chairman of Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gazan border, urged the government to return the hostages as part of an agreement \u201ceven if the price is high\u201d, and said the kibbutz understood the dangers of Hamas better than cabinet members, the Times of Israel is reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kibbutz Nir Oz was largely destroyed when Hamas militants entered all but six of more than 200 homes in the small community and murdered or kidnapped one of every four residents \u2013 117 out of about 400 people, the report says.<\/p>\n Of those abducted, nine are still being held in Gaza<\/a>, with only five of them believed to still be alive.<\/p>\n A torched home in Kibbutz Nir Oz after Hamas\u2019s 7 October 2023 attack. Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The ceremony on Thursday for a new neighbourhood in the kibbutz was planned in the presence of released hostages and the families of those still held in captivity. The Times report continues:<\/p>\n But in the middle of the proceedings, kibbutz chairman Tzviki Tessler<\/strong> announced that \u201cthe cabinet is gathering now to discuss the occupation of Gaza. We can\u2019t continue as normal at this time, so we will stop the ceremony as we must. I speak on behalf of Nir Oz and of the hostages and call on the leadership and the cabinet \u2026 don\u2019t approve any action that can endanger the lives of the hostages.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He said that without the return of the hostages \u201cthere will be neither victory nor rehabilitation\u201d.<\/p>\n People at the Nir Oz cornerstone ceremony that was halted on Thursday. Photograph: Amir Cohen\/Reuters<\/p>\n Irit Pauker<\/strong> \u2013 whose father Gideon Pauker<\/a><\/strong> was shot and wounded in his Nir Oz home on 7 October and bled to death there next to his wife, Orna<\/strong>, who was not hurt \u2013 said the hostage families had been fighting for a year and 10 months and no longer knew against whom: Hamas or the state of Israel.<\/p>\n The Times quoted her as saying:<\/p>\n Now is maybe the last opportunity to save them \u2026 stand by us.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.14 EDT<\/p>\n A Hamas official has said the militant group will treat any force formed to govern Gaza per Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s suggestion as an \u201coccupying\u201d force linked the Israel,<\/strong> Reuters has quoted the official as telling the Al Jazeera Mubasher television network.<\/p>\n A Jordanian official, meanwhile, has said Arabs \u201cwill only support what Palestinians agree and decide on\u201d after the Israeli prime minister said he wanted to hand over Gaza to Arab forces that would govern the territory.<\/p>\n In the first reaction by a main Arab neighbour to Netanyahu\u2019s comments, the Jordanian official told Reuters:<\/p>\n Security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Netanyahu did not elaborate on the governance arrangements or which Arab countries could be involved.<\/p>\n The Israeli leader made the comments to Fox News shortly before a meeting he was due to have on Thursday with a small group of senior ministers to discuss plans for the military to take control of more territory in Gaza<\/p>\n The Jordanian official said:<\/p>\n Arabs will not be agreeing to Netanyahu\u2019s policies nor clean his mess.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.12 EDT<\/p>\n More now on almost two dozen relatives of hostages who set sail from southern Israel<\/a> towards the maritime border with Gaza, where they broadcast messages from loudspeakers calling for the hostages\u2019 release.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yehuda Cohen<\/strong>, the father of Nimrod Cohen<\/strong>, an Israeli soldier held in Gaza<\/strong>, said from a boat on Thursday that Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> was prolonging the war to satisfy extremists in his governing coalition, the Associated Press reports.<\/p>\n The Israeli prime minister\u2019s far-right allies want to escalate the war, relocate most of Gaza\u2019s population to other countries and reestablish Jewish settlements that were dismantled in 2005.<\/p>\n Cohen said:<\/p>\n Netanyahu is working only for himself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As our latest full report<\/a> from Lorenzo Tondo<\/a> <\/strong>details, the hostages\u2019 family members boarded boats that departed from the coastal city of Ashkelon, near the border with Gaza, carrying yellow flags and posters bearing images of the hostages as they shouted their names.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the moment for courageous leadership,\u201d the families said, appealing directly to Netanyahu as well as the lead hostage negotiator, Ron Dermer<\/strong>, and the chief of the Israel Defense Forces.<\/p>\n Continued obstruction, delay and failure to bring our loved ones home will be a tragedy for generations. The responsibility is yours. Do not sacrifice our loved ones on the altar of an endless war.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza during the flotilla calling for their immediate release in front of Ashkelon, near Gaza\u2019s maritime border. Photograph: Abir Sultan\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.15 EDT<\/p>\n A summary of today\u2019s developments<\/p>\n Israeli prime minster Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza<\/a>, despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad<\/strong>. \u201cWe intend to,\u201d Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News Channel when asked if Israel would take over the entire coastal territory. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don\u2019t want to govern it. We don\u2019t want to be there as a governing body.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Netanyahu made the comments shortly before a meeting he was due to have on Thursday with a small group of senior ministers<\/strong> to discuss plans for the military to take control of more territory in Gaza. Two government sources told Reuters any resolution by the security cabinet would need to be approved by the full cabinet, which may not meet until Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Israeli media has reported part of the security cabinet meeting. The IDF\u2019s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has warned Benjamin Netanyahu about the hostages still in Gaza<\/strong>, according to broadcaster Channel 12. \u201cThe lives of the hostages will be in danger if we embark on a plan to occupy Gaza,\u201d the broadcaster reports him as saying. \u201cThere is no way to guarantee that we will not be harmed by them. Our forces are worn out, the military equipment needs maintenance, and there are humanitarian and sanitary problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has responded to accusations earlier from the medical NGO M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res<\/strong> (MSF), who called for the closure of GHF and described its food distribution sites in Gaza as having become sites of \u201corchestrated killing and dehumanisation\u201d. GHF, a US- and Israeli-backed aid organisation operating in Gaza, said in a statement: \u201cMSF\u2019s accusations are both false and disgraceful \u2013 amplifying a disinformation campaign orchestrated by the Hamas-linked Gaza health ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Of the 42 people killed on Thursday, at least 13 were seeking aid<\/strong> in an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds. Another two were killed on roads leading to nearby sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor, according to Nasser hospital, which received the bodies, AP reported.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Palestinians struggle to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by parachutes into Gaza City, northern Gaza. Photograph: Jehad Alshrafi\/AP<\/p>\n A footballer known as the \u201cPalestinian Pel\u00e9\u201d has been killed <\/a>in an Israeli attack in southern Gaza<\/strong>, according to the Palestine Football Association (PFA). Suleiman al-Obeid was killed on Wednesday when Israeli forces attacked civilians waiting for humanitarian aid, the PFA said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n There is an upward trend in the number of trucks entering Gaza but it is still below what was agreed between the EU and Israel under a deal last month<\/strong> on improving humanitarian access, the bloc\u2019s foreign policy and humanitarian arms said in a document seen by Reuters on Thursday. The UN and other partners report that 463 trucks were off-loaded at crossing points to Gaza between 29 July and 4 August, the document said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Israeli authorities returned the body of a Palestinian activist killed by an Israeli settler last week<\/strong>, after female Bedouin relatives launched a hunger strike to protest against the authority\u2019s decision to hold his body in custody, reports the Associated Press. The hunger strike was a rare public call from Bedouin women who traditionally mourn in private. Witnesses said Awdah al-Hathaleen was shot and killed by a radical Israeli settler during a confrontation caught on video last month.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson <\/a>are among more than 200 writers who have signed a letter calling for an \u201cimmediate and complete\u201d boycott of Israel until the people of Gaza are given adequate food, water and aid<\/strong>. Hanif Kureishi, Brian Eno, Elif Shafak, George Monbiot, Benjamin Myers, Geoff Dyer and Sarah Hall also signed the letter, which advocates the cessation of all \u201ctrade, exchange and business\u201d with Israel.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Human Rights Watch have called on governments worldwide to suspend their arms transfers to Israel<\/strong> after deadly airstrikes on two Palestinian schools last year, reports the Associated Press. Human Rights Watch said an investigation did not find any evidence of a military target at either school.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Gaza has seen its highest monthly figure of acute malnutrition in children, with hunger-related deaths rising in the territory, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said<\/strong> on Thursday. He added that malnutrition is widespread in the territory, reports Reuters.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Demonstrations have been planned across Israel on Thursday evening to protest against the expected security cabinet decision<\/strong>, reports the Associated Press. On Thursday morning, almost two dozen relatives of hostages being held in Gaza set sail from southern Israel towards the maritime border with Gaza, where they broadcast messages from loudspeakers on boats to their relatives in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Police on Thursday said they had charged the first three people in England and Wales with supporting activist group Palestine Action since it was banned<\/strong> under anti-terrorism laws. Two women and a man were charged under the UK\u2019s Terrorism Act of 2000 after their arrest at a protest in central London on 5 July, the capital\u2019s Metropolitan police force said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Eyal Zamir vowed on Thursday to continue expressing the military\u2019s position \u201cwithout fear\u201d<\/strong> ahead of the expected security cabinet meeting. \u201cWe will continue to express our position without fear, in a pragmatic, independent, and professional manner,\u201d Zamir said according to a military statement reported by Agence France-Presse.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Indonesia will convert a medical facility on its currently uninhabited island of Galang to treat about 2,000 injured residents of Gaza<\/strong>, who will return home after recovery, a presidential spokesperson said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Muslim-majority Indonesia has sent humanitarian aid to Gaza after Israel started an offensive in October 2023 that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians (the Gaza health ministry doesn\u2019t distinguish between civilians and combatants).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n US president Donald Trump said it was important that Middle Eastern countries join the Abraham Accords<\/strong>, saying it will ensure peace in the region. \u201cNow that the nuclear arsenal being \u2018created\u2019 by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords,\u201d Trump wrote in a social media post on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The US has presented Lebanon with a proposal for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year<\/strong>, along with ending Israel\u2019s military operations in the country and the withdrawal of its troops from five positions in south Lebanon, according to copy of a Lebanese cabinet agenda reviewed by Reuters.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.11 EDT<\/p>\n Planes drop humanitarian aid by parachute amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza. Photograph: Mahmoud Issa\/UPI\/ShutterstockShare<\/a>Palestinians gather in the area where humanitarian assistance lands on top of destroyed homes in western Gaza City. Photograph: Mahmoud Issa\/UPI\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.28 EDT<\/p>\n The Gaza<\/a> Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has responded to accusations earlier from the medical NGO M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF), who called for the closure of GHF and described its food distribution sites in Gaza as having become sites of \u201corchestrated killing and dehumanisation\u201d.<\/p>\n GHF, a US- and Israeli-backed aid organisation operating in Gaza, said in a statement: \u201cMSF\u2019s accusations are both false and disgraceful \u2013 amplifying a disinformation campaign orchestrated by the Hamas-linked Gaza health ministry.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know better. By repeating these lies, they\u2019re not aiding civilians, they\u2019re aiding Hamas. Despite that, we\u2019re proud to continue lending them a hand, just as we\u2019ve done on multiple occasions to help transport and safeguard their medical supplies and medicines from the elements.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.56 EDT<\/p>\n Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera Mubasher that it would treat any force formed to govern Gaza<\/a> as an \u201coccupying\u201d force linked to Israel.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> A footballer known as the \u201cPalestinian Pel\u00e9\u201d has been killed in an Israeli attack in southern Gaza, according to the Palestine Football Association (PFA).<\/p>\n Suleiman al-Obeid was killed on Wednesday when Israeli forces attacked civilians waiting for humanitarian aid, the PFA said.<\/p>\n \u2018\u2018During his long career, al-Obeid, 41, scored more than 100 goals, making him one of the brightest stars of Palestinian football,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Born in Gaza<\/a> on 24 March 1984, Obeid began his footballing career with Khadamat al-Shati, later playing for Markaz Shabab al-Am\u2019ari in the occupied West Bank, and Gaza Sport. A fixture in the Palestinian national side after his debut in 2007, Obeid gained 24 caps and scored twice, the PFA said, most memorably with a scissor-kick against Yemen during the 2010 West Asian Football Federation championship.<\/p>\n His talent on the pitch earned him the nickname of \u201cthe Palestinian Pel\u00e9\u201d \u2013 a nod to the legendary Brazilian widely hailed as one of the greatest players of all time.<\/p>\n His death adds to a growing toll of athletes lost in Gaza<\/a> since the war began, with at least 662 sportspeople and their relatives reported to have been killed.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A Jordanian official told Reuters that Arabs \u201cwill only support what Palestinians agree and decide on\u201d after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> said Israel wanted to hand over Gaza to Arab forces that would govern it.<\/p>\n \u201cSecurity in Gaza<\/a> must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.09 EDT<\/p>\n Israeli media has reported part of the security cabinet meeting<\/p>\n The IDF\u2019s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has warned Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> about the hostages still in Gaza, according to broadcaster Channel 12.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lives of the hostages will be in danger if we embark on a plan to occupy Gaza<\/a>,\u201d the broadcaster reports him as saying.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no way to guarantee that we will not be harmed by them. Our forces are worn out, the military equipment needs maintenance, and there are humanitarian and sanitary problems.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.04 EDT<\/p>\n Britain continues to run near daily surveillance flights over Gaza with the help of a US contractor at a time of growing questions about how the intelligence obtained is used and shared with the Israeli military, writes Dan Sabbagh and Geneva Abdul.<\/p>\n Specialist flight trackers estimate that RAF Shadow aircraft have run more than 600 flights over the Palestinian territory from the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus in an attempt to locate the remaining hostages held by Hamas since December 2023.<\/p>\n Spy flights were started under the Conservatives but have continued under Labour with few details shared publicly, at a rate of about two a day at first but dropping to one a day more recently, specialist trackers said.<\/p>\n Surveillance was transferred to a US contractor, Sierra Nevada Corporation, in late July to reduce costs and RAF sources indicated that it continues most days in an equivalent aircraft. But within days there was a mistake when the new spy plane was revealed to be circling over Khan Younis on 28 July.<\/p>\n Until that time the spy planes\u2019 transponders were turned off halfway into their flight from Akrotiri heading towards Gaza<\/a> over the eastern Mediterranean. But the mistake meant that \u201cthe RAF (now contracted) flights could be confirmed over Gaza, not just adjacent to Gaza,\u201d said the flight tracker and analyst Steffan Watkins.<\/p>\n![\"Palestinians](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754618771_43_7200.jpg\")
Palestinians struggle to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by parachutes into Gaza City, northern Gaza. Photograph: Jehad Alshrafi\/AP<\/p>\n\n
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![\"Lorenzo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Lorenzo_Tondo.jpg\")
Lorenzo Tondo<\/p>\n