Britain will send surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy support ships and about 100 Royal Marines to the eastern Mediterranean from Friday to support Israel and help prevent any sudden escalation of fighting in the Middle East.

Patrol flights of Poseidon P-8 aircraft and other planes will begin on Friday, Downing St announced, tasked partly with monitoring any efforts to transfer of weapons from countries such as Iran or Russia to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Existing UK military units and fighter aircraft, based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, are also on alert as Israel gears up for an expected ground assault on Gaza after last Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas, which has left more than 1,300 Israeli civilians dead. The death toll in Gaza has risen above 1,400.

  • NewDark@lemmings.world
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    1 year ago

    How much more do they need against a cornered population? Jesus fucking Christ dude.

    • steventhedev@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The entire purpose is to serve as a deterrent against a larger escalation with Hezbollah or Iran. It is highly unlikely that any non-Israeli forces will take part in actual combat or even support roles.

    • saltesc@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      400K people intentionally blocked from any aid or humanitarian corridor. It’s sickening. What’s the objective here? Who can be most evil and lower the bar furthest?

      1.1M people in Gaza have been advised and given a day to get south, however they figure that out. A number of people hard to imagine are about to die.