Burnham’s Government Has Approved 10 Military Flights to Israel in 6 Weeks

At least ten military flights have left RAF bases for Israel since Andy Burnham became prime minister, despite Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and escalating attacks in the West Bank, flight data shows.

The flights, first reported on by independent journalist Matt Kennard, include an Airbus A400M Atlas that departed RAF Akritori in Cyprus and landed in Tel Aviv on 26 August.

The A400M is a transport plane that can carry up to 37 tonnes of cargo or 166 people, according to the RAF’s website. 

The plane is capable of carrying up to six Land Rovers or a patriot missile system, according to Machine Design. It can also carry helicopters.  

​The Ministry of Defence told the National that the flight from Akrotiri was to resupply embassy staff, but did not comment on flights from RAF bases in the UK.

Eight flights by Stratotanker refuelling aircraft departed for Israel from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk between 24 July – four days after Burnham entered No 10 – and 26 August.

On 11 August, a Boeing C-17 transport plane operated by the US military left RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk for Israel.

In the months following 7 October 2023, the UK flew 60 aircraft to Israel, Kennard revealed in a Declassified UK article in May 2024. The UK also conducted hundreds of spy flights of Gaza. 

Burnham has also granted US president Donald Trump permission to use British bases for his illegal attacks against Iran.​

Before becoming prime minister, he said he was “sorry” for the way Labour had handled Israel’s attacks on Gaza, but refused to acknowledge that it is a genocide. He has so far not departed from the party’s policy of allowing arms exports to and military support for the apartheid state.

Kennard told the National: “Andy Burnham’s comments on Labour getting Gaza ‘wrong’ have been exposed as a sham within a couple of months of his tenure as prime minister.”