Britain's air bases, Gaza and the Brize Norton case
Base profile
Britain's main base for Middle East operations, in a Sovereign Base Area on Cyprus: the base for around 590 RAF surveillance flights over Gaza.
RAF Akrotiri is a UK air base on Cyprus and Britain's main base for military operations in the Middle East, about 30 minutes' flying time from Gaza.
RAF 14 Squadron's Shadow R1 surveillance planes flew from Akrotiri over or near Gaza from 3 December 2023. Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) and Declassified UK counted at least 518 flights by 27 March 2025 and later 606; independent flight-tracking analysis counts 590 in total, the last on 25 July 2025. The government says the flights were only to locate hostages, but has refused to say what intelligence was gathered or who it was shared with. RAF spy flights over Gaza.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the RAF flew 32 flights from Akrotiri to Israel in the seven weeks after 7 October 2023. A Shadow R1 also landed in Israel on 13 February 2024.
Flight tracking records 524 local Voyager sorties from Akrotiri between 7 October 2023 and June 2025, rising to 54–61 a month in March–May 2025. Both Voyagers later damaged at Brize Norton deployed here around the UK's 2024 strikes on Yemen, and were operating from Akrotiri in the week before the protest as war broke out between Israel and Iran. The flight records.
UK–Israel military links
A dated timeline of the RAF Voyager tankers, surveillance flights and Israeli military flights at Brize Norton and Akrotiri in the weeks before the 20 June 2025 protest.
UK–Israel military links
Flight records show ZZ338 and ZZ343 were flying from RAF Akrotiri in the weeks before the June 2025 protest. The MoD has not explained the records for ZZ343.
UK–Israel military links
Flight records place both Voyagers damaged in June 2025 at Akrotiri during UK strikes on Yemen in 2024. Declassified UK and the government give different reasons for the strikes.
AirTanker & PFI
AirTanker's chief executive says both damaged Voyagers were recovered in under 21 days. Flight data shows one of them flying again 22 days after the protest, with the core fleet already stretched.
UK–Israel military links
Parts repaired at MOD Sealand go into a shared pool that supplies Israel's F-35s, and F-35 parts were exempt from a 2024 licence suspension. RAF trainers are owned by a venture that includes Elbit.
Explainers
The Voyager is a converted Airbus A330 that carries troops and cargo and refuels other jets in mid-air. Two Voyagers were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in June 2025.
Surveillance flights
RAF Shadow R1 surveillance planes flew from Akrotiri over or near Gaza from December 2023 to July 2025. The government says the flights only look for hostages.
Political links
A dated record of what ministers and a parliamentary committee have said about RAF flights to Israel, Israeli planes at Brize Norton and the Gaza surveillance flights, from 1998 to 2025.
Comparisons
Seven official statements on the Brize Norton protest and the RAF's Voyager tankers, checked against flight records, Freedom of Information requests and parliamentary records.
The case
Twelve documented facts about the Brize Norton protest and the case against six accused, with sources, covering the planes, the damage figures, the National Security Act and the Palestine Action ban.
Timeline
A dated timeline of the RAF Brize Norton case, from the start of Israel's campaign in Gaza in October 2023 to the trial due in January 2027, covering the protest, charges and court rulings.
Explainers
Plain definitions of the legal, military, corporate and Gaza-related terms in the Brize Norton case, from conspiracy and prohibited place to Voyager, PFI and the ICJ.
UK–Israel military links
Flight records, parliamentary answers and published reporting link RAF Brize Norton to Israel's military campaign through Akrotiri, RAF spy flights over Gaza and Israeli planes on the base.
