UK wont release spy plane footage related to killing of UK aid worker in Gaza

The family of a British aid worker killed by an Israeli drone strike in Gaza have slammed the British government for refusing to release information about the attack gathered by a Royal Air Force (RAF) spy plane. 

James Kirby, a 47-year-old former British Army rifleman, was working in Gaza for the World Central Kitchen when he was killed last April in an Israeli targeted attack on a three-car aid convoy. He died alongside several others, including two other British veterans.

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) told The Times it had footage from a RAF spy plane that was flying over Gaza trying to locate Israeli captives on the day of the strike. The MoD refused to disclose the footage, citing national security and defence exemptions.

In an interview with The Times, the Kirby family questioned why they were not allowed to be informed about what was filmed.

"I want to know who’s made that decision not to make it public and why they haven’t," Kirby's mother Jacqui Kirby said.

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Adam Maguire, Kirby’s cousin, said: "What justification do they have for not making it public? It’s not going to change the course of anything in Gaza. It’s not going to affect the Israeli government."

'What crimes have we seen?'

An MoD spokesperson told Middle East Eye last week that survillance flights over Gaza "are unarmed, do not have a combat role, and are solely focussed on securing the release of the hostages".

"The UK controls what information is passed on and only information relating to hostage rescue is passed to the relevant Israeli authorities. We will only pass information where we are satisfied that it will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law."

This comes just weeks after a debate in parliament saw independent MPs grill the armed forces minister on the RAF's surveillance flights over Gaza.

"If hundreds of UK flights have taken place over Gaza, what have we witnessed?" Shockat Adam MP asked. "What crimes, if any, have we seen?"

He added: "In one year alone, from December 2023 to November 2024, the UK conducted 645 surveillance and recon missions, which amounts to almost two flights a day."

The minister, Luke Pollard, did not answer Adam's questions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially claimed the killing of the British aid workers last April was "unintentional". The Israeli military later dismissed two officers and reprimanded two senior commanders, saying a drone operator had mistakenly targeted the convoy.

But in an interview with The Times, the Kirby family slammed the military's investigation as a "whitewash" and called for an independent inquiry.

Maguire said: "We’d consider suing Israel if you look at it as being maybe a deterrent for them not to hit aid workers and be held accountable."

Criticising the foreign secretary

Jacqui Kirby said the family had not been contacted by Israeli officials to apologise privately for the killing.

She also criticised British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, saying he had walked up to her at a meeting in the Foreign Office last November and asked who she was.

"I thought, ‘You’re coming here to meet all these families and you haven’t even done your homework to find out who each individual is.’ After that, I could barely bring myself to speak to him."

A Foreign Office spokesperson told The Times: "We are pressing Israel to swiftly conclude the military advocate-general’s investigation into events on April 1, 2024. Israel must ensure lessons are learnt to deliver lasting safety improvements for aid workers on the ground."

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