UK's SAS heroes 'ready to deploy to Gaza to rescue 9 British hostages'

18 October 2023 , 12:45

707     0

SAS troops are ready to be deployed to Gaza, according to a military source (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Britain's elite SAS troops are on 'high-alert' and are ready to be deployed to Gaza, it has been reported.

Military and security sources have claimed that the special forces unit have already been collaborating with their counterparts in the US and Israel to gather intelligence - and may be tempted to step in to rescue hostages form the UK.

Nine British nationals are believed to currently be held captive by Hamas militants in the Gaza strip following the group's large-scale attack on Israel, according to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. A total of 199 hostages are thought to have been taken, though the militant organisation claim another 50 are being kept by other groups.

UK special forces have been working with the US and Israel to gather intelligence, it is claimed (AFP via Getty Images)

A British special forces source told the i Newspaper: “It is understood that events in southern Israel have triggered a change in the readiness of UK special forces. An SAS squadron on a training operation had last week finished its detachment several days early as part of unspecified deployment plans.”

A Foreign Office minister earlier this week vowed that Britain is doing "everything" possible to save the 10 British hostages thought to be held by Hamas. Andrew Mitchell said the Government is "extremely concerned about the fate and the state" of the missing Britons after six citizens were confirmed to have died in the attack on Israel.

Andrew Tate loses latest appeal against detention in human-trafficking case

The younger of two British sisters who were said to be missing after the Hamas' incursion into Israel were confirmed to have died. Family members confirmed Yahel, 13, was murdered along with her mother Lianne, while her sister Noiya, 16, and her father are still missing. Their family said Noiya and Yahel were kidnapped from Be'eri, a kibbutz in southern Israel, after it was stormed by militants, and taken across the border into Gaza. It was confirmed that their mother Lianne, who was British and born in Bristol, was murdered in the attack on October 7.

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas