Cyprus rejects Hezbollah claims that country supported Israeli military exercises

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accuses Cyprus of allowing Israel to conduct military drills from airports and bases

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Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has rejected claims by Hezbollah that his country allowed Israel to use its airports and bases for military exercises.

The Iran-backed group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned Cyprus it would be considered “part of the war and [Hezbollah] will deal with it as part of the war”, if Cypriot airports and bases were used to launch attacks on Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have launched regular cross-border attacks since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October. But Mr Christodoulides said his country played no role in the conflict.

“I therefore reiterate that Cyprus, our country, is absolutely not involved in any way, and is not part of the problem,” he said.

“To the contrary, we demonstrate in practice that we are part of the solution,” he added, referring to the role Cyprus played in establishing a maritime aid route to the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah has said its attacks on Israel will continue until there is a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

During his speech on Wednesday night when he threatened Cyprus, Mr Nasrallah reiterated that Hezbollah did not want an all-out war with its arch foe Israel. But he also warned that “there will be no place safe from our missiles and our drones” in Israel in the event of a broader war.

Mr Nasrallah said Hezbollah would fight with “no rules” and “no ceilings” if it came to it, as he boasted of having more than 100,000 fighters.

Cyprus is not known to have allowed the Israeli military to operate from its land or bases, but the country has in the past allowed Israel to use its airspace, known as its flight information region, to conduct drills, but never during conflict.

“The Republic of Cyprus is not part of the problem, the Republic of Cyprus is part of the solution,” Mr Christodoulides said. “And our role, as manifested, for example, through the humanitarian corridor [to Gaza] is being recognised not only by the Arab world, but by the entire international community.”

Asked if he was worried about Mr Nasrallah's allegations, the President said “the statements are not pleasant, but they do not correspond in any way to what is alleged, that is, to present the image that Cyprus is involved in the war activities. That is not the case at all.”

The escalating violence on the Lebanon-Israel border has led to fears of all-out war, as Israel continues its brutal assault on Gaza where more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in response to Hamas's unprecedented incursion into southern Israel on October 7.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Hezbollah would be destroyed if “total war” broke out. The military has approved plans for an assault on Lebanon.

Iran-backed Hezbollah is a powerful armed group and political party with significant influence across Lebanon. The group is regarded as the most powerful faction in the Iran-backed Axis of Resistance, a coalition of countries and armed groups opposed to Israel and the US.

The comments came as Iran's acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, visited Qatar, which has played a role in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Mr Kani also met Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and lauded the Palestinian nation’s “heroic resistance” against Israel.

Israeli media reported that Qatar was considering imposing sanctions on Hamas in order to breathe life into the stumbling talks over a ceasefire.

Under a three-stage US plan, there would be an initial six-week pause in the fighting in Gaza, followed by a transition to a “political settlement” of the conflict without Hamas. However, Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire, as well as maintaining a central role in ruling Gaza.

Pictures: On front line of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict

Wael Mugrabi, the mayor of Ein Qiniyye in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights says war with Hezbollah is already under way. All photos: Willy Lowry / The National

Lior Shelef with his Caananite dog Macha, in front of his home in Kibbutz Snir near the Israel Lebanon border

Backpacks left by children hang outside an empty school in Kibbutz Snir, which has been almost deserted since the start of the Israel-Gaza war

The slopes of Ein Qiniyye overlooking Israel and Lebanon in the distance

Lior Shelef stands in front of the house he built in Kibbutz Snir

One of the few bomb shelters in the Druze village of Ein Qiniyye

Toys left outside a nursery in Kibbutz Snir

A street sign in the near-empty Kibbutz Snir

Nearly all of the residents of Kibbutz Snir were ordered to leave their homes at the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war

Mr Mugrabi drinks from one of the springs that gives Ein Qiniyye its name