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The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) holds no human-rights risk assessments, ministerial approvals or internal guidance relating to British intelligence-sharing with Israel, despite there having been over 600 RAF intelligence-gathering flights over Gaza, Byline Times can reveal.
The disclosure, revealed through a Freedom of Information request by Byline Times, raises questions about whether the United Kingdom applied its own intelligence-sharing safeguards while operating over a warzone marked by mass civilian deaths and credible allegations of genocide.
Over 600 of RAF Shadow R1 intelligence-gathering missions have taken place over Gaza since late 2023, gathering signals and imagery during some of the most destructive phases of the conflict. Dozens more sub-contracted US company spy flights were also hired. The last flight took place on 10 October 2025.
Ministers claimed the flights were tied to hostage-recovery efforts. But the purpose and limits of the operations have never been made clear, and the UK has refused to confirm what intelligence was subsequently shared with Israel.
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Rules Broken?
Under Whitehall’s own rules, any sharing of intelligence between states should trigger the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance framework (OJSA). Such a framework, introduced under the Conservative-led government in 2011, requires officials to assess the human-rights situation in any intelligence-sharing partner country, identify risks of complicity in abuses and consult ministers if those risks are serious.
As the government notes: “All organisations regularly involved in security and justice assistance should have a designated internal OSJA Lead, known to the FCDO, who can advise their personnel on the OSJA process and ensure consistency of application.”
The UK’s intelligence agencies told Parliament in 2024 that they take OSJA seriously, describing it as essential to preventing Britain from aiding torture, unlawful killings or other violations.
“Whenever possible,” the Conservative government noted, “the UK promotes human rights compliance with those countries with which the Government works.”
Yet when the FCDO was asked by Byline Times under the Freedom of Information Act for OSJA assessments relating to Israel since 2023, the FCDO responded that such “information (was) not held.”
The department also said it held no ministerial submissions, no internal risk analyses and no guidance on applying OSJA to intelligence-sharing with Israel’s security services.
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Oversight Breakdown
Britain’s intelligence agencies have told Parliament they pause cooperation when foreign partners breach assurances, and that ministers must approve any higher-risk engagement. There is recent precedent: when the United States authorised the destruction of suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific – a tactic the UK feared could lead to unlawful killings – Britain halted intelligence-sharing on counter-narcotics. Such breaks in cooperation are rare within an alliance that normally exchanges signals intelligence as routine.
UK rules apply equally to Defence Intelligence, which oversees RAF reconnaissance. The Intelligence and Security Committee has made clear that all British intelligence-sharing must follow the same legal and ethical safeguards, including consulting the Foreign Office’s risk assessments before passing material to partners.
Yet the Foreign Office has told Byline Times it holds no OSJA assessments, guidance or ministerial submissions relating to intelligence-sharing with Israel since 2023. At the same time, the Ministry of Defence has refused to disclose how many flights RAF aircraft conducted over Gaza or what they collected – a refusal under challenge by Byline Times.
In December 2024, Keir Starmer said to British troops in Cyprus: “I’m also aware that some or quite a bit of what goes on here can’t necessarily be talked about all of the time.”
The absence of OSJA paperwork, combined with secrecy over the flights, show that the UK’s oversight system failed in practice. Either the FCDO believed the Gaza missions fell outside its remit, or the required assessments were never carried out.
The MoD claims “the UK government strictly controlled what information was passed on and only information relating to hostage rescue was passed to the relevant Israeli authorities.”
Marko Milanović, Professor of Public International Law at the School of Law of the University of Reading and a leading expert on human rights law, told Byline Times: “It would be important to know what exactly was being shared, and what exactly Israel did with the information being shared… The lack of paperwork is always troubling. There is also always the risk that the UK (or some other states) was wilfully blind to what Israel was doing.”
The FCDO did not reply to Byline Times’ request for comment.