Britons are “extremely seemingly” to be amongst these held by Hamas in Gaza, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has advised Sky Information.
The cabinet minister revealed the UK had additionally despatched extra intelligence personnel to the area as a part of efforts to launch these captured or help residents trapped within the besieged enclave.
His feedback got here because the UK prepares to send RAF aircraft and Royal Navy ships to the jap Mediterranean to help Israel and “ship a sign” to the broader area within the wake of the shock attack by Hamas on Saturday, unleashing a battle that has already claimed no less than 2,400 lives.
Pressed over whether or not UK residents have been amongst these kidnapped by insurgents, Mr Shapps stated: “It appears very seemingly that there are. We do not have precise knowledge on that for apparent causes.
“However inside Gaza, there may even be Brits, or probably folks with twin nationalities as effectively.
“The prime minister has spoken to the Egyptian president about utilizing that border to get folks out.
“The state of affairs is way from clear.
“It is one of many causes, as I discussed earlier than, we have despatched extra personnel, intelligence personnel, with a purpose to help with precisely these kinds of operations.”
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Mr Shapps added: “It’s extremely seemingly nobody will know for certain, that there are these with, both British nationals or folks with a joint nationality concerned within the hostage state of affairs that has been reported beforehand.
“Secondly, that we’re sending help and experience, together with intelligence, to the area and to plenty of completely different areas.”
The army package deal being deployed by the UK consists of P8 surveillance plane, two Royal Navy ships – Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels Lyme Bay and Argus – three Merlin helicopters and an organization of Royal Marines.
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