Eye witnesses to an Israeli massacre believe British intelligence contributed to the slaughter.
The smell of blood and smoke still lingers in the memory of those who lived through the Nuseirat massacre in the heart of the Gaza Strip.
One year has passed since the slaughter on 8 June 2024, when Israeli forces launched a “hostage rescue” operation against Hamas.
However, that military raid – which killed more than 270 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians – left behind nothing in Nuseirat but devastation and collective loss.
As families continue to mourn, media reports, including by the New York Times, have added another layer of pain.
They revealed that Western countries, including the US and UK, provided intelligence ahead of the operation through surveillance flights and advanced monitoring technology.
Today, survivors of the massacre hold those countries responsible, saying that surveillance planes which filled the skies over the camp in the days leading up to the operation may have been “British and American eyes directing the fire from above.”
‘Unforgivable’
Raed Abdel Fattah, 38, is still unable to return to normal life after what he experienced that bloody morning.
“I was with my wife and our three children in the market when the airstrikes began. We ran aimlessly through the street, just trying to survive.
“We tried to take cover in a parked car on the side of the road. We passed it just seconds before it was struck by a missile and went up in flames. Had we been a moment later, we would have been buried under the rubble.”
Raed pauses, then continues in a tense voice: “We ran into the Nuseirat market as bullets rained down around us, with bodies and the wounded filling the streets.
“There was no safe place. In front of us was a young man selling sweets – suddenly, a quadcopter drone shot him in the head.
“His brain spilled out before my eyes. I couldn’t hold myself together. It was a moment of human collapse I haven’t recovered from to this day.”
He adds: “This massacre was not random. Everything was calculated precisely, as if they were tracking every move.
“When I learned that the US and Britain provided Israel with intelligence from reconnaissance planes, I felt betrayed from above.
“These planes were not only Israeli. If they supplied images or data, they are part of the decision – and partners in the outcome.”
Raed is not seeking sympathy: “We do not want diplomatic apologies. Whoever provided the information opened the door to the massacre, even from afar. This is unforgivable and cannot be forgotten.”
Britain has sent more than 500 surveillance flights over Gaza since the war began, supposedly to help Israel locate hostages.
The raid on Nuseirat is one of the only examples where Israel freed captives through military force, increasing the likelihood that British intelligence contributed in some way.
British pilots conducted 24 flights over Gaza in the two weeks leading up to and including the day of the massacre.
‘Complicit’
In a tent her family set up near the massacre site, Asmaa Al-Turk (33) lived with her husband and her daughter Sarah, who is a year and a half old.
“We weren’t far from the place Israel said the hostages were held. Days before the massacre, I noticed unusual activity of reconnaissance drones. They were flying low and disturbingly, throughout the day and night.”
She adds: “We always thought every plane in Gaza’s sky was Israeli. We didn’t know there were British [planes] or American drones gathering data on their behalf.
“But now, after everything that has been revealed and what I’ve learned, I feel we were not only under the occupation’s watch but under the eyes of the whole world—and they remain silent.”
She then recalls the moment of the disaster: “A missile or shrapnel hit our tent. The fire spread quickly. My daughter Sarah was sleeping and got injured in her foot by the flames.
“My husband was screaming, and I didn’t know how to put out the fire. We miraculously saved her, but that moment… that moment never leaves my mind. Since that day, I’ve been waking up from nightmares.”
Asmaa did not let the Western reports pass silently. “If Britain assisted with reconnaissance…it is not innocent. It doesn’t matter whether the planes were armed or not.
“Anyone who sees our children and remains silent or provides the killer with information is complicit in the crime.”
Asmaa concludes in a steady voice: “No matter the type of aircraft or the country they came from, we will not forgive. The blood of Gaza’s children is no less precious than the blood of any person in London or Paris.”