British drone flew over Lebanon hours before and after Israeli massacre

<article data-history-node-id="437920" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/british-drone-flew-over-lebanon-hours-and-after-israeli-massacre" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/british-drone-flew-over-lebanon-hours-and-after-israeli-massacre" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">British drone flew over Lebanon hours before and after Israeli massacre</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk" target="_blank">British</a>&nbsp;drone flew over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/lebanon" target="_blank">Lebanon</a>&nbsp;and circled near Baalbek on Wednesday, the day&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a>&nbsp;hit Lebanon with a wave of strikes that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/wednesday-death-toll-israeli-attack-lebanon-rises-303" target="_blank">killed</a>&nbsp;more than 300 people - including 18 in the Bekaa Valley city.</p> <p>A Middle East Eye analysis of flight-tracking data has found that a Royal Air Force MQ-9B Protector drone departed from the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus on Wednesday morning and began flying over Lebanon at around 6:20am.</p> <p>The drone then flew in circles over an area near Baalbek and Younine in eastern Lebanon, close to the Syrian border, from around 6:30 to 6:50am.&nbsp;</p> <p>It appeared to enter Syrian airspace at around 8am, flying north past Homs and passing over Idlib, flight-tracking data showed.</p> <p>The drone's activities for several hours are unknown, but it was seen near Baalbek again at around 8:15pm, hours after heavy Israeli attacks hit Lebanon in the early afternoon.</p> <h3>Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-drone-flew-over-lebanon-hours-and-after-israeli-massacre">British drone flew over Lebanon hours before and after Israeli massacre</a></h3> <figure role="group" class="media-block"> <div class="group-inner"> <div alt="The RAF drone is seen on Flightradar24 circling over eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border on Wednesday morning, hours before Israeli strikes began (Screengrab)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f97247ba-9403-4ae3-8136-6016df0084ff" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"> <img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/Screenshot%202026-04-10%20at%20124139.jpg" width="1498" height="843" alt="The RAF drone is seen on Flightradar24 circling over eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border on Wednesday morning, hours before Israeli strikes began (Screengrab)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"> </div> <figcaption>The RAF drone is seen on Flightradar24 circling over eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border on Wednesday morning, hours before Israeli strikes began (Screengrab)</figcaption> </div> </figure> <p><span style="background: url(&quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p> </div> </div> </article>