Recent statements from Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, have brought Cyprus into the mix of tensions between Israel and the Iranian-backed Shiite militia.
On June 19, Nasrallah threatened Cyprus that it would be considered “part of the war” should it provide its infrastructure to Israel for potential operations against Lebanon.
While some dismiss these claims as mere rhetoric in the ongoing war of words between Israel and Hezbollah, Le Figaro’s Georges Malbrunot writes that Nasrallah’s accusations may hold some truth.
Malbrunot, an expert on Middle East affairs who was taken hostage for several months by the Islamic Army in Iraq in 2004, cites a French military source who claims that Cyprus and Israel share a history of security cooperation, including the use of Cypriot airspace by Israeli combat missions. Additionally, Israel is known to have established a significant presence on the island with a Mossad base staffed by several dozen agents.
“Nasrallah is largely right in his accusations,” the source told the French newspaper, arguing that Cyprus has opened up its airspace to Israeli combat aircraft. “After taking off from their bases, to avoid any air defence systems, Israeli fighters make a wide turn, sometimes crossing Greek-Cypriot airspace to carry out their missions,” the French military official specified.
“It should be borne in mind that Cyprus is a kind of a backyard for Israel,” said a diplomat formerly posted to Nicosia. “You can see the Lebanese coast from the mountains of Cyprus.”
Over the years, Malbrunot writes, Cyprus has been a crossroads of multiple influences in the Middle East. During the Lebanese civil war, many took refuge there. Since then, others have settled there: such as Palestinians of the PLO, after the Oslo Accords of 1993, who established – in agreement with France, among others – an intelligence centre and a base for their Force 17, Yasser Arafat’s elite unit. “Then came Hezbollah, Iran and Russia.”
A Mossad base in Cyprus?
“Israel realised that Cyprus was a very good observation post for what was happening in the Middle East,” said a French intelligence source. “Israel worked with the Cypriot intelligence services before setting up at least one Mossad base, staffed with several dozen people,” the spy added.
Role of the British Bases
Malbrunot highlights that the British Bases in Cyprus are used for espionage purposes by the UK. He notes that in early January, several hundred people demonstrated outside the Akrotiri base against the involvement of British bases in the conflicts in Gaza and Yemen.
In late May, the British investigative website Declassified UK claimed that between October 2023 and February 2024, 48 flights had taken off from Akrotiri for Israel. According to the UK Ministry of Defence, these flights were used by “ministers, officials, the British armed forces and to transport life-saving supplies”.
Attack on Cyprus, would be attack on Europe
Therefore, the implications of Nasrallah’s threats go beyond bilateral tensions, Malbrunot highlights. He notes that any escalation involving Cyprus could have wider repercussions. A French military source cautions that due to strong military cooperation between France, the UK, and Cyprus, any attack on Cypriot soil would be considered an attack on these European countries as well.
A Lebanese diplomat, when questioned by Le Figaro, asserted that “At a time when Western powers, who have taken over from Israel, are putting pressure on Nasrallah to avoid a war, this is a way for him to assert himself as an even more indispensable interlocutor,” the diplomat commented. “Nasrallah is telling them: “You put pressure on us, and we threaten you.”
By implicating Cyprus, “Nasrallah knows that in the event of a war, he would drag countries like Britain and even France into it,” warned the French military source. “Our cooperation with the Cypriot army is strong, whether it be with artillery, signals or cavalry. Attacking Cyprus is also an attack on us.”
