The Prime Minister has sent the RAF and Navy to the Middle East on a special mission to help “support Israel’s right to self-defence.”
The mission is supported by two Royal Navy ships a company of Royal Marine Commando’s, three helicopters and in Cyprus the SAS are on standby.
The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK “supports Israel’s right to self-defence.”
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, “We must be unequivocal in making sure the horrific scenes we have seen this week will not be repeated.
“Our military and diplomatic teams across the region will support international partners to re-establish security and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the thousands of innocent victims of this barbaric attack from Hamas terrorists.”
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said, “No nation should stand alone in the face of such evil and today’s deployment will ensure Israel does not.
“The Royal Navy Task Group, RAF operations and our wider military support will be an undeniable display of the UK’s resolve to ensure Hamas’s terrorist campaign fails whilst reminding those who seek to inflame tensions that the forces of freedom stand with the Israeli people.”
The SAS are on standby in Cyprus ready to deploy to rescue British hostages being held in Gaza by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on 7 October, the Daily Mail has reported.
Earlier this month Sunak ordered surveillance aircraft t and two further Royal Navy warships to eastern Mediterranean as tensions in the Middle East grow amid the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict
Sunak ordered for the two warships to be sent from Gibraltar to support regional stability and will be on standby for Israel for “everything they need.”
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels, RFA Argus and RFA Lyme Bay which is 177 metre long and weighs 16,160 tonnes it “capable of delivering a significant fighting force anywhere in the world,” the Royal Navy said.
RFA Angus weighs 28,081 tonnes which is 175 metres long and has a 100 bed medical complex which is basically a floating state of the art hospital.
