{"id":78823,"date":"2024-06-22T13:16:09","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T13:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/22\/hezbollah-has-threatened-cyprus-heres-why\/"},"modified":"2024-06-22T13:16:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T13:16:09","slug":"hezbollah-has-threatened-cyprus-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/22\/hezbollah-has-threatened-cyprus-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Hezbollah Has Threatened Cyprus. Here\u2019s Why."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/21\/multimedia\/21mideast-crisis-Cyprus-explainer-mlht\/21mideast-crisis-Cyprus-explainer-mlht-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Hezbollah Has Threatened Cyprus. Here\u2019s Why.\" title=\"Hezbollah Has Threatened Cyprus. Here\u2019s Why.\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Cyprus found itself at the center of the world\u2019s attention this week when the leader of Hezbollah threatened to target the small island nation if it supported Israel in potential war efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Amid intensifying violence between the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese militia and the Israeli military at the Israel-Lebanon border, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah\u2019s chief, warned on Wednesday that the armed group would punish Cyprus if it allowed Israel to use its airports and bases to target Lebanon, saying it would be \u201cpart of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/19\/world\/middleeast\/hezbollah-cyprus-israel-nasrallah.html?\" title=\"\">warning from Mr. Nasrallah<\/a> came as world leaders were scrambling to contain the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah despite apparent efforts by both sides to keep the cycle of strikes and counterstrikes from spiraling <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/18\/world\/middleeast\/israel-hezbollah-lebanon.html\" title=\"\">into a full-blown war<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here\u2019s a closer look at how Cyprus has been pulled into the situation. <\/p>\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-2149407d\"><span><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">What is the relationship between Cyprus and Israel?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Cyprus and Israel have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mfa.gov.cy\/mfa\/embassies\/embassy_telaviv.nsf\/DMLbilateral_en\/DMLbilateral_en?OpenDocument&amp;print\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">economic, political and strategic ties<\/a>. Their militaries have conducted joint exercises and exchanged visits, and the two countries have a defense cooperation program, according to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/mod.gov.cy\/en\/%CE%B4%CE%B9%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%B5%CE%AF%CF%82-%CF%83%CF%87%CE%AD%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%82.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">the Cyprus Ministry of Defense<\/a>. Cyprus has similar relationships with many other nations, including Britain, Egypt, France and, notably, Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Cyprus also has a \u201cdefense attach\u00e9\u201d in Israel \u2014 and in about two dozen other nations \u2014 as part of what it calls \u201cactive defense diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There is an additional cooperation agreement between Cyprus, Greece and Israel, which Cyprus says is aimed at \u201cstrengthening peace, stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-52c7e521\"><span><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">How did Cyprus respond to Hezbollah\u2019s threat?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Nikos Christodoulides of Cyprus wrote in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/letymbiotis\/status\/1803518569067782174\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a post on social media<\/a> on Wednesday that his country was \u201cnot involved in the war conflicts in any way.\u201d He added that Cyprus maintained communication channels with the governments of Lebanon and Iran and stressed the importance of diplomacy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Cyprus has helped to facilitate the delivery of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/30\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-aid-ship-famine.html\" title=\"\">humanitarian aid to Gaza<\/a> by sea, and the American military has <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/09\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-aid-us-ship.html\" title=\"\">used the island nation<\/a> to transport assistance to the war-torn territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In his statement, Mr. Christodoulides emphasized that Cyprus was \u201cpart of the solution,\u201d an apparent allusion to the country\u2019s efforts to help get aid to Gaza.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-516efd9\"><span><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">How did the world react?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Officials from the Lebanese government tried to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/lebanon-cyprus-israel-hezbollah-threat-nasrallah-af11dcf77adde513d1d3a6c424548c6a\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">allay the concerns<\/a> of their Cypriot counterparts on Thursday, assuring them of Lebanon\u2019s commitment to peace. While Hezbollah is a formidable political force in Lebanon, its parliamentary bloc lost a majority in the national election in 2022, and its positions do not always represent the official government stance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Other allies of Cyprus also condemned Hezbollah\u2019s threat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Peter Stano, a spokesman for the European Union, of which Cyprus is a member, on Thursday <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EUCYPRUS\/status\/1803779260194140623\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">expressed support for Cyprus<\/a>, saying that \u201cany threat against one of our member states is a threat against the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, called Mr. Nasrallah\u2019s comments \u201cextremely unproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOur preference would be for Hezbollah to pursue a diplomatic resolution,\u201d he added at a press briefing Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/22\/world\/middleeast\/hezbollah-cyprus.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cyprus found itself at the center of the world\u2019s attention this week when the leader of Hezbollah threatened to target the small island nation if it supported Israel in potential war efforts. Amid intensifying violence between the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese militia and the Israeli military at the Israel-Lebanon border, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah\u2019s chief, warned on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/21\/multimedia\/21mideast-crisis-Cyprus-explainer-mlht\/21mideast-crisis-Cyprus-explainer-mlht-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7018,671,16220,18170],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78823"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78825,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78823\/revisions\/78825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}