Hezbollah threatens Cyprus associating it with the State of Israel. In a fiery speech, the leader of the Lebanese armed party Hassan Nasrallah warned the island state, a member of the European Union and the Commonwealth but not of Bornthreatening to strike sensitive targets on the island of Cyprus if it supported Israel in any way potential war which is feared could explode between the Lebanese militant group and the Jewish state which feels increasingly threatened on the northern border.
The Cypriot territory, divided into the Republic of Cyprus, internationally recognized as the only legitimate government of the island, and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by the Ankara government, hosts an important military base British. L’enclave military of Akrotiri, considered “Akrotiri and Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area” by the United Kingdom under the London Agreement of 1959. It was used to launch raid planes against Houthi rebels Yemen.
The British base was probably exploited as hub by Western secret services, MI6 And CIAto monitor the military actions of the IDF after the attacks of 7 October and in actions to defend the trade routes threatened by the Houthis in the Red Sea.
The threat from Hezbollah
“Also Cyprus will be part of this war” if he opens his airports and its bases at Israeli forces. Based on the threat made during a televised speech aired on Wednesday, the leader of Hezbollah, a militant group supported by Iran, made a point of warning Israel’s ideal allies in what was billed as a “total war” between Lebanon and Israel.
The Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides he denied being involved in the war that the State of Israel is fighting against Hamas in Gaza. Calling the Hezbollah leader’s statements “unpleasant”, and stating that they “do not correspond in any way to what you are trying to present, which is to present an image that Cyprus is involved in war operations”. Cyprus is not involved “in any way”, saying “the lines of communication are open with the Lebanese and Iranian governments”.
Christodoulides recalled how “the Republic of Cyprus is not part of the problem”, but on the contrary “it’s part of the solution” after the role he played in establishing a humanitarian corridor “recognized not only by the Arab world, but by the international community as a whole”, and proving itself to be a “logistics hub“, but on a humanitarian, not military level.
The European Union’s response
This morning theEuropean Union intervened in defense of Cyprus recalling that the island “is a member state of the EU, which means that the European Union is Cyprus and Cyprus is the European Union”. “Every threat against one of our member states is a threat against the European Union” underlined EU spokesman Peter Stano.
A war between Israel and Hezbollah is currently considered an unlikely hypothesis due to the seriousness of the consequences that could trigger aexclamation uncontrollable in Middle East. As highlighted in an article published by CNN: “the mere mention of Cyprus adds a new dimension to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.” A Hezbollah attack on Cypriot territory, or worse on the British enclave of Akrotiri, would risk to drag a nation of the European Union or a global power like the United Kingdom in a conflict that could directly or indirectly involve theIran.
The connection with Israel
In the last few years Israel has trained troops on Cypriot territory to prepare them for a possible war with Hezbollah since “the territory of Cyprus is similar to Lebanon“, the Israel Defense Forces said. The latest exercises, which notably involved the Israeli Navy fleet, deployed off the Gaza Strip to establish a “naval blockade”, were last conducted in May 2023 .
In the past, relations between Cyprus and Tel Aviv were fluctuating, until Israel started looking economic partners in the eastern Mediterranean, finding a willing interlocutor in the Cypriot government. Some experts reportedly say Israel has also looked to Cyprus as a “partner to counter the regional threats“, in particular threats from “groups linked to Turkey and Iran”.
Of greater concern is the scenario put forward by Hezbollah according to which Israel – which possesses sufficient air bases to launch raids in Lebanese territory as it has demonstrated it can do over the years – would use “Cypriot bases for its military forces against which Hezbollah”, explains Mohammad Ali Shabani, an Iranian analyst who recalled how such an action “would effectively extend the Gaza war into the European Union”.
A remote hypothesis that deserves to be monitored by international diplomacy. For the protection of the Cypriot territory and no less for theintegrity of relationships between European members Also outside the NATO agreements.
