SAS troops are now in Cyprus on standby for hostage rescue missions in Gaza.

The elite soldiers are also braced to free UK citizens trapped by the bloodbath.

Some 200 Brits are stranded in Gaza after Israel and Egypt sealed the strip’s borders and five are held there by Hamas terrorists.

Britain’s military bases in Cyprus offer a strategic presence in the eastern Med.

And the SAS sabre squadron has been joined on the island by a 100-strong crisis command team.

Their primary focus is the Gaza Strip but officials fear the war could spread, trapping more Brits in Egypt’s Sinai peninsular and Lebanon.

The SAS in Cyprus have the Special Forces Support Group with them and a fleet of their modified helicopters.

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A similar joint force scrambled to Cyprus ahead of the Khartoum Airlift that rescued some 2,000 from war-torn Sudan in spring.

A source told The Sun: “The UK has permanent bases in Cyprus.

“You would expect us to make use of them when there is a crisis in the region like this.”

Defence and Border Force staff have also been deployed to Egypt in the hope that Cairo relaxes its chokehold on Gaza’s Rafah border crossing.

The MoD refused to comment on details of Special Forces operations.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army’s most elite fighting force Sayeret Matkal is likely to spearhead any hostage rescue in Gaza.

The shadowy unit, who wear maroon berets, are modelled on the SAS and have the same “Who Dares Wins” motto.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is a former team leader in the crack military group, as was his brother.

Yonatan Netanyahu was killed in the famous air hijack hostages rescue involving Sayeret Matkal commandoes at Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976.