Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Royal Air Force was granted access to Palestinian airspace to conduct military exercises with fighter jets on 18 and 19 February 2026.

Yes. The aircraft were granted overflight of the relevant Flight Information Regions, as designated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, under routine Diplomatic Flight Clearance procedures. The Ministry of Defence also had permission from the Palestinian Authority for overflight of Palestinian airspace.

RAF aircraft transited Israel and Palestine on 18 and 19 February 2026 to undertake missions related to Operation Shader. Operation Shader is the ongoing RAF contribution to the military intervention against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, beginning in August 2014.