Military planes reportedly sent to Lebanon from Akrotiri
Britain has used RAF Akrotiri to send over 80 military transport planes to Beirut since the bombing of Gaza began, the Declassified UK website has reported.
According to the website, there has been a steady stream of flights since the Israeli assault on Gaza began in October, but the number rose dramatically in April with 25 flights going from Akrotiri to Beirut.
May reportedly saw the same number of flights, with another 14 so far this month.
The spike in flights – now totalling 84 since October according to Declassified – comes amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
Declassified said it had been told by a defence source that the flights “have been primarily for the purpose of facilitating senior military engagement”.
But a Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson only said: “The UK is committed to its longstanding support to the Lebanese Armed Forces and routinely support them with training and exercises, which helps maintain Lebanon’s security.”
Britain’s defence ministry told parliament last month it could not reveal the number of RAF planes that had flown to Lebanon since October 7.
“The RAF undertakes regular flights to the Middle East region as part of our routine engagement and to conduct humanitarian aid airdrops,” defence minister Leo Docherty said. “For operational security considerations we will not comment further.”
Declassified said it has usedflight tracker data to track the flights to Lebanon.
The flights, it said, were carried out by Voyager aircraft, which can carry 45 tonnes and 291 personnel, or provide air-to-air refuelling. Another flight involved a C-17 cargo plane.
Earlier this month Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said it could consider Cyprus “a part of the war” with Israel if it continued to allow the latter to use its airports and bases for military exercises.
Commentators have told the Cyprus Mail that his comments should not be read as a threat to Cyprus per se.
Cyprus is not known to offer any land or base facilities to the Israeli military. But in the past it has granted Israel access to its airspace to occasionally conduct air drills, though never during conflict.
Nicosia meanwhile seemed taken aback by Nasrallah’s threats, although it chose its words carefully in responding.
President Nikos Christodoulides said Cyprus was “is in no way involved” in any military operations in the region or elsewhere. He added that the Hezbollah leader’s remarks “do not in any way reflect what’s being attempted, which is to present a picture that Cyprus is involved in military operations”.
In May Declassified reported thatBritain had flown 60 military aircraft to Israel since it began bombing Gaza in October.