RAF pilots are reportedly carrying out secret spy missions to track down Iran-backed terror groups smuggling weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Brit fighter jets are said to be now focused on the movements of suspected rockets and missiles from Iraq and Syria into the hands of Iran's proxy forces to be used against Israel.

After years of trying to track down remnants of the Islamic State, The Times claims that the Typhoons have a new mission – surveilling Iran's nefarious activities across the Middle East.

A military source revealed: "We suspect these could be some Iranian-backed militia groups manoeuvring weapons through Iraq and Syria to bolster up Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

Since Israel declared war on Hamas following their bloody October 7 massacres, Iran-backed terror groups in Lebanon and Yemen have repeatedly threatened to open up new fronts in the conflict.

Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels are part of Iran's self-styled "Axis of Resistance" against Israel and have been striking both Israeli and US targets in "solidarity" with Hamas.

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Hezbollah has repeatedly been pounding Israeli military positions in the country's north with missiles, mortar fire and suicide drones,  while Israel has retaliated with warplanes, helicopters and missiles.

Meanwhile, Hamas has been able to unleash thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, which has raised questions over where their supply has come from.

Experts have long believed Hamas's weapons arsenal has been smuggled from Iran into Gaza through their maze of terror tunnels and the sea.

Meanwhile, a military source also told The Times that the RAF pilots are now also responsible for helping to find the Iran-backed terror groups responsible for firing at US bases.

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Since October 7, there has been a wave of attacks on coalition forces at bases in Iraq and Syria- including where British soldiers are stationed.

Washington has complained that Tehran is stepping up its attacks onAmerican targets using its regional proxies in revenge for Israel's relentless bombardment and offensive inside Gaza.

White House spokesman John Kirbyhas accused Iran of "actively facilitating" the assaults and "spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict".

In recent weeks, the US revealed 78 drone and rocket attacks have been carried out against US facilities, of which 37 were in Iraq and 41 in Syria.

On Friday morning, a multi-rocket attack targeted the US Embassy in Baghdad causing minor damage and no casualties.

It was the first confirmed attack on the embassy in Iraq's capital since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.

It comes as official sources revealed that US President Joe Biden will allow Israel until the end of the year to wrap up its war on Hamas.

Israel is currently ramping up its air and ground offensive in Gaza – which has so far wiped out about half of the terror group's mid-level commanders.

Meanwhile, new pictures have emerged which appear to show dozens of Israeli troops setting up pumps and pipes close to the sea as they look to flood Hamas' 300-mile tunnel network.

Hamas has responded by taunting Israel with a photograph of "Gaza's Bin Laden", Yahya Sinwar, grinning from ear to ear while sitting on a chair in a ruined home.

Israeli forces this week surrounded one of 61-year-old Sinwar's houses in northwest Khan Younis where it was believed he could be hiding.

Described by IDF Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner in a tell-all interview with The Sun as the "mastermind of the massacre of seventh of October", Yahya Sinwar is at the very top of Israel's kill list.

Lt Col Lerner said: "He is the person that financed it [the October 7 attack], organised it, planned it, and gave the green light to go and kill and butcher, massacre, abduct, rape and behead Israelis.

"He’s at the top of our list. We intend on catching up with him and killing him in action."

Israel has vowed to continue their renewed offensive until the terror chief is dead.

It comes as the IDF continues to blitz the enclave in a bid to recover the remaining 138 hostages in Hamas' grips.

However, Israel's moves to capture more of Khan Younis has left over hundreds of thousands of Palestinians packed together in horrific humanitarian conditions.

The UN estimates 1.9 million people have been displaced by the fighting so far and Israel's new military evacuation orders are squeezing people into ever-smaller areas.

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Most are lacking access to food, water and medicine after months of Israel's bombardment and siege, which has made much-needed aid deliveries inside the Strip almost impossible.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said the death toll in the territory has surpassed 17,100 – 70 per cent of which are women and children, with another 46,000 wounded.

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