Greece and the US expressed their solidarity to Nicosia on Thursday after Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamic militant group, threatened to attack Cyprus if it aids Israel.
In a televised address on Wednesday, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese group, warned Cyprus that if it allowed Israeli forces to use its military infrastructure to target Hezbollah and launch operations from its territory, it would be considered an act of war.
“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” Nasrallah said.
The Greek Foreign Ministry expressed its solidarity with the “brother people” of Cyprus. “The threat to use force constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations,” the relevant statement stressed.
US: Hezbollah must not seek to exploit the conflict
A US State Department spokesman said: “We and our partners are clear: Hezbollah and other actors must not seek to exploit the ongoing conflict. The US does not want to see this conflict spread to Lebanon or the wider region. Any escalation would be disastrous for Lebanon and the Lebanese people and is not in anyone’s interest.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, during the accredited editors’ briefing, added that “obviously these comments are extremely counterproductive. Hezbollah must stop threatening anyone. We prefer that Hezbollah pursue a diplomatic solution.”
Cyprus: Hezbollah statements “not pleasant”
Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis told public broadcaster CyBC that Nasrallah’s statements were “not pleasant” and made assurances that Cyprus would take the appropriate action through diplomatic channels.
“Cyprus is not involved and will not be involved in any war or conflicts. Therefore, the statements made by the Hezbollah leader do not correspond with reality,” he said.
He echoed what President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday, namely that Cyprus is “part of the solution and not part of the problem” and insisted that the island is “a pillar of peace and stability in the wider region”, while also adding that relations between the Republic and Lebanon are “excellent”.
He went on to say that no country will be allowed by the government to carry out military operations on the island but did note the “peculiarity” of the existence of the British bases in Cyprus, which, he said, “have a different status”.
The EU also weighed in. “Any threats against our member state are threats against the EU,” a spokesperson said.
Cyprus only 250 kilometers from the Lebanese coastline
Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese group said on Wednesday that Hezbollah would fight with “no rules” and “no ceilings” if a broader regional conflict were to erupt.
Iran-sponsored Hezbollah has fired a slew of rockets and drones into Israel in the months since Hamas’ October 7th attack on the country. Israel has responded with air strikes that have killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters, including a top commander.
Cyprus is roughly 250 kilometers from the Lebanese coastline, and Nicosia and Tel Aviv have strengthened their defense cooperation in recent years, conducting joint military exercises and signing a series of arms procurement agreements. Cyprus is not a member of NATO.
While experts say war between Israel and Hezbollah remains unlikely, the very mention of Cyprus adds a new dimension to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. It risks drawing a European Union nation into a war that has already spread across the Middle East and puts the spotlight on Cyprus’s ties with Israel, CNN notes.
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