British officials say “unarmed and unmanned drones” will conduct surveillance flights to recover Hamas prisoners.

The British military will conduct surveillance flights over Gaza to help search for prisoners held by Hamas, joining the US in supporting Israel in its war against the Palestinian armed group, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.

According to Israeli authorities, Hamas militants captured about 240 Israelis and foreign prisoners in their October 7 attack.

Israel says 110 people have since been released – 86 Israelis and 24 foreigners – in exchange for about 240 Palestinian prisoners, mostly during a recent week-long ceasefire completed on Friday.

The Israeli military said on Friday it had resumed bombing of the besieged Palestinian territories. She blamed Hamas for the end of the ceasefire that gave Gazans a respite from weeks of devastating bombings.

The resumption of fighting has dashed hopes for a quick release of about 130 prisoners who the Israeli army says are still being held in Gaza.

The United Kingdom has said that at least 12 British nationals were killed in the October 7 attacks – which Israeli authorities said left about 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians – and that another five are still missing.

London has not confirmed how many of its citizens are being held by Hamas.

Israel responded to the Oct. 7 attack by promising to eliminate the Hamas group, and the relentless air and ground campaign that followed killed more than 15,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in Gaza.

Hamas has said it will continue negotiations to release more prisoners only after the end of the Gaza war, while Israel withdrew from talks brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

“Drones should be used”

Britain did not announce when its military surveillance flights over the territory would begin, but stressed that they would be unarmed and focused only on recovering prisoners.

“In support of ongoing hostage rescue activities, the UK Ministry of Defense will conduct surveillance flights over the Eastern Mediterranean, including operations in the airspace over Israel and Gaza,” it said in a statement.

“Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, have no combat mission and will be used solely to locate hostages,” the ministry added.

“Only information related to the hostage rescue will be passed on to the authorities responsible for the hostage rescue.”

British government minister Victoria Atkins told the BBC on Sunday that the aircraft used were “unarmed and unmanned drones.”

Together with the United States, the United Kingdom deployed various military assets to the Eastern Mediterranean in October to deter “any malicious interference in the conflict.”

This included maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft as well as a Royal Navy task force moving to the region, the Ministry of Defense said at the time.

Britain’s defense exports to Israel totaled 42 million pounds ($53 million) last year, according to Defense Secretary Grant Shapps. He said London had no plans to stop arms sales to the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the White House, Israel’s largest arms supplier, Goals to lift almost all restrictions on Israel’s access to weapons from the United States.

If approved by lawmakers, the proposal would give Israel access to more powerful U.S. weapons at a lower cost and with less congressional oversight.

A Wall Street Journal report recently said Washington has so-called “Bunker Buster” bombs and a number of other ammunition to Israel for its war on Gaza.

The USA has transmitted 100 BLU-109 bombs to Israel, designed to penetrate hardened structures before exploding, the report said, citing unnamed U.S. officials. Washington has pledged $14 billion in aid to Israel – its closest Middle East ally – in addition to $3.8 billion in annual military aid.