in-cyprus 8 October 2025
An American spy plane operating from Royal Air Force Akrotiri has been filmed taking off for Gaza surveillance missions in the early hours of the morning, according to investigative journalism website Declassified UK.
Journalists Phil Miller and Alex Morris captured footage of the Beechcraft 350 surveillance aircraft (call sign Crook12, tail number N6147U) departing the British base at 2.50am Cyprus time on 27 September, Declassified UK reported on Monday. The plane, leased from America’s Sierra Nevada Corporation and hired by the RAF to replace its own fleet, lifted off and banked left towards Gaza, according to their account.
Surveillance flights allegedly switched to night operations after exposure
Flight tracking websites show the privately owned aircraft periodically activates its location beacon at RAF Akrotiri, according to Declassified UK. The plane officially assists Britain in searching for hostages held by Hamas, it noted.
The aircraft initially flew during daylight hours with predictable schedules but switched operations after the surveillance programme was revealed, the investigation found. “After it was revealed that the RAF had hired them – to replace their own fleet – they switched to flying at night and drastically restricted the visibility of their location data,” Declassified UK reported.
For three consecutive nights before 27 September, Crook12’s location beacon remained completely switched off, according to the report. The journalists described their stakeout from Lady’s Mile beach: “We are standing on a sand dune in the pitch dark listening to the Mediterranean crash onto Lady’s Mile beach.”
The footage confirms the aircraft remains active despite operating in near-total darkness, Declassified UK stated. “Rising smoothly into the sky, it banks left and turns south towards Gaza before disappearing out of range,” the report stated.
Over 600 missions flown with just eight hostages rescued by force
Together with the RAF’s own fleet, the spy planes have flown more than 600 missions around Gaza since the programme launched in December 2023, according to Declassified UK. During this period, eight hostages have been freed from Gaza using military force, compared to 135 released through ceasefire deals.
Operation Arnon, the raid which freed four hostages in June 2024, resulted in hundreds of Palestinian deaths, the report stated. Last December, sister aircraft Crook11 flew within three streets of a house in Gaza’s Nuseirat neighbourhood hours before Israel killed 34 civilians inside, according to Declassified UK.
Ministry of Defence refuses to clarify intelligence sharing with Israel
“Britain’s Ministry of Defence, which refuses to be interviewed by Declassified about these flights, will not tell parliament if it supplied footage for that fatal rescue mission,” the media outlet said.
The ministry will not clarify “how it ensures Israel does not use the intelligence from Britain for its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza,” according to the report.
The extended duration of the surveillance programme has raised questions given Gaza’s small size, Declassified UK reported. When Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria, an RAF Sentinel spy plane “mapped the whole of Nigeria” in 10 sorties and located the girls within weeks whilst operating from neighbouring Ghana.
Declassified UK asked: “So why does Israel, with its vastly more advanced surveillance capabilities than Nigeria, really require so much assistance from Britain’s spy flight programme?”
The footage will feature in a documentary to be released later this month on Declassified UK’s YouTube channel.
(Photos: Alex Morris / Declassified UK)
