NICOSIA – After the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist group backed by Iran threatened Cyprus in claiming the island was helping Israel in its invasion of the Gaza Strip, a British military base on the island sent more than 80 transport planes to Lebanon.

That was according to a declassified United Kingdom report, said the news site Declassified UK, which said the flights came from the Akrotiri airbase that has been used to stage British bombing missions in West Asia.

https://www.declassifieduk.org/uk-has-sent-74-war-planes-from-cyprus-to-lebanon-since-march/

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides hastily denied his government was supporting Israel in its hunt for Hamas terrorists in Gaza who raided Israel in October, 2023 and killed more than 1200 people.

But Cyprus has no control over the UK bases that were allowed to say when Cyprus, a former colony of the British, gained its independence after savage resistance against the role of the UK.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned the terrorist group would use a massive rocket and missile arsenal to hit targets across Israel in a “total war” if Israel invades Lebanon, that would strike a European Union country.

The EU has 27 member states but no military force and has relied instead on a “soft power” diplomacy policy that has failed to deter aggression or rein in autocratic rules outside the bloc, such as Belarus.

Nasrallah also threatened Cyprus, noting what he said was its role as an American, British and Israeli staging ground as Hezbollah seeks to support Hamas during the Israeli invasion that has killed some 37,000 Palestinians trapped in Gaza.

“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,” he said.

Declassified UK notes that the number of UK military flights to Beirut has risen dramatically in recent months. The group tracked 25 flights in April and May and 14 so far in June, the site said.

Flights from the UK base take around 45 minutes to reach Beirut, which Israel has increasingly threatened to bomb in a possible full-scale war with Hezbollah which intermittently fires rockets into Israel.

A defense source not named told Declassified UK that the flights “have been primarily for the purpose of facilitating senior military engagement” with the Lebanese army, that country being divided.

But it is widely assumed the planes are carrying weapons to Beirut to arm anti-Hezbollah militias. The US, UK, and Israel would presumably use these militias to attack Hezbollah from within the country in the case of an Israeli invasion from the south, the report said.

Nasrallah’s threat appeared to include the Akrotiri base, which lies in territory retained by the UK when Cyprus gained independence in 1960 and has military and intelligence centers for Britain and the US, said Declassified UK.

But it remains unclear what is behind them. A defense source told Declassified the flights “have been primarily for the purpose of facilitating senior military engagement,” but offered no details, the site said.

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Declassified: “The UK is committed to its longstanding support to the Lebanese Armed Forces and routinely support them with training and exercises, which helps maintain Lebanon’s security.”

“The RAF (Royal Air Force) undertakes regular flights to the Middle East region as part of our routine engagement and to conduct humanitarian aid airdrops,” Defense Minister Leo Docherty said. “For operational security considerations we will not comment further,” he added.