British and US spies hacked Israel’s drones programme

British and US intelligence cracked the codes of Israeli drones operating in the Middle East and monitored their surveillance feeds for almost 20 years, according to documents leaked by an American whistleblower and published in international media.

The details emerged from documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, who leaked millions of documents about US government surveillance in 2013, according to reports by the German daily Der Spiegel and investigative website The Intercept.

The intelligence agencies were able to watch information that the drones and other aircraft broadcast back to their handlers, the reports said.