Cyprus was caught off guard by comments from Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday that the island could be a target if it permitted Israel to use its military facilities in the event of an attack on Lebanon.
So Cyprus was caught off guard because they were told “if we get attacked from your soil, you could be a target”. This doesn’t sound very complicated, why are they perplexed?
They’re caught off guard because all they’ve done up to this point was humanitarian aid. And there’s been no hints for participating any further. Imagine yelling at someone who’s only ever done positive things for your people.
And there’s been no hints for participating any further
They have US military bases there and that’s why Lebanon made that threat, and more specifically Nasrallah said:
“The Cypriot government must be warned that opening Cypriot airports and bases for the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon means that the Cypriot government has become part of the war and the resistance (Hezbollah) will deal with it as part of the war” [source]
Also you said:
Imagine yelling at someone who’s only ever done positive things for your people.
I’m sorry but this example is irrelevant. The threat does not come from Palestine, it comes from Lebanon.
There are no US military bases in Cyprus. There are british ones(since Cyprus used to be part of the British Empire).
And there is 0% chance that Cyprus would let israeli military launch attacks from Cyprus.
Nor is there much strategic reason to do so, unless Hezbollah has some s-300/400 and Israel needs to go around them and attack from a different direction. But they dont. And even if they had, Cyprus has basically no reason to allow Israel to do that and there is 0 precedent for that either.
I think it is just Hezbollah being an attention whore.
Because it’s a list of “bases owned or used by the United States Armed Forces”. But that doesn’t change the fact that, as I said in my other comment, those bases are not in the country of Cyprus
I have to admit I thought RAF Akrotiri was an American base within the British one. By checking it out, you were correct to mention the term “used”. And I was wrong.
Also, I think what you mentioned earlier is the key element:
The sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia is a British Overseas Territory. Cyprus has no sovereignty over that area.
If that’s Hezbollah’s issue, they should’ve threatened the UK.
Honest questions, because I don’t know much about Cyprus. Do they normally allow Israel to do military exercises from Cyprus? Are Cypriots known to be aligned with Israel?
If they don’t normally do stuff that would make a country think they would help out Israel militarily, then yeah, this is surprising. If they do have regular interactions with the IDF or are politically close to Israel, then I can see why someone would want to warn Cyprus to stay out of it.
Adding to the other comment, Cyprus has also welcomed tens of thousands of Lebanese refugees over the years since the 80s, and lobbied the EU to financially assist Lebanon.
So Cyprus was caught off guard because they were told “if we get attacked from your soil, you could be a target”. This doesn’t sound very complicated, why are they perplexed?
They’re caught off guard because all they’ve done up to this point was humanitarian aid. And there’s been no hints for participating any further. Imagine yelling at someone who’s only ever done positive things for your people.
It’s not complicated. It’s moronic on their end.
They have US military bases there and that’s why Lebanon made that threat, and more specifically Nasrallah said:
Also you said:
I’m sorry but this example is irrelevant. The threat does not come from Palestine, it comes from Lebanon.
There are no US military bases in Cyprus. There are british ones(since Cyprus used to be part of the British Empire).
And there is 0% chance that Cyprus would let israeli military launch attacks from Cyprus.
Nor is there much strategic reason to do so, unless Hezbollah has some s-300/400 and Israel needs to go around them and attack from a different direction. But they dont. And even if they had, Cyprus has basically no reason to allow Israel to do that and there is 0 precedent for that either.
I think it is just Hezbollah being an attention whore.
They have, at least according to the
List of American military installations - wiki
I suppose the above could also be a reply for [email protected].
I mean… It’s even in the name there. RAF is Royal Air Force.
Sure, that’s the name. Still, this doesn’t explain why RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is on the List of American military installations in wiki
Because it’s a list of “bases owned or used by the United States Armed Forces”. But that doesn’t change the fact that, as I said in my other comment, those bases are not in the country of Cyprus
I have to admit I thought RAF Akrotiri was an American base within the British one. By checking it out, you were correct to mention the term “used”. And I was wrong.
Also, I think what you mentioned earlier is the key element:
The sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia is a British Overseas Territory. Cyprus has no sovereignty over that area.
If that’s Hezbollah’s issue, they should’ve threatened the UK.
Honest questions, because I don’t know much about Cyprus. Do they normally allow Israel to do military exercises from Cyprus? Are Cypriots known to be aligned with Israel?
If they don’t normally do stuff that would make a country think they would help out Israel militarily, then yeah, this is surprising. If they do have regular interactions with the IDF or are politically close to Israel, then I can see why someone would want to warn Cyprus to stay out of it.
Adding to the other comment, Cyprus has also welcomed tens of thousands of Lebanese refugees over the years since the 80s, and lobbied the EU to financially assist Lebanon.