Hezbollah threatens war with Cyprus if Nicosia continues to help Israel – Euractiv

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Wednesday (June 19) that “no place” in Israel would be spared in the event of a full-scale war against the Lebanese group and threatened Cyprus if it opened its airports to Israel.

“The enemy knows full well that we have prepared for the worst… and that no place… will be spared from our missiles,” Nasrallah said in a televised address.

Israel must reckon with us “on land, at sea and in the air,” he said.

“The enemy really fears that the resistance could advance into Galilee in northern Israel,” he said, adding that this was possible “as part of a war that could be imposed on Lebanon.”

Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese movement allied with Hamas, have been exchanging cross-border fire almost daily since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Clashes between the two conflicting parties, which last fought in 2006, have escalated in recent weeks. The Israeli military said on Tuesday that “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon have been approved and confirmed.”

Previously, Foreign Minister Israel Katz had warned of the destruction of Hezbollah in a “total war”.

Nasrallah said his Iran-backed group had been informed that Israel could use airports and bases in Cyprus if Hezbollah attacked Israeli airports.

Cyprus, a member of the European Union, maintains good relations with Israel and Lebanon and is located close to the coast of both countries.

“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to attack Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war and the resistance will treat it as part of the war,” Nasrallah threatened.

In addition, Britain retained sovereign control of two base areas in its former colony of Cyprus under the treaties that granted the island independence in 1960.

“New weapons”

Nasrallah’s comments came a day after US envoy Amos Hochstein – who brokered a maritime border agreement between Israel and Lebanon in 2022 – called for “urgent” de-escalation during a visit to Lebanon.

During his regional tour, he also met with high-ranking officials in Israel.

“Everything the enemy says and what the mediators convey, including the threats of war against Lebanon… that does not scare us,” Nasrallah said.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah released a video lasting over nine minutes that allegedly shows aerial footage taken by the movement over northern Israel, showing sensitive military, defense and energy facilities and infrastructure in the city and port of Haifa.

Nasrallah said the footage was taken by a drone that flew over Haifa’s port for “hours”.

He also warned that his group had only used “part” of its weapons since October.

“We have received new weapons,” Nasrallah said, without giving further details.

“We have developed some of our weapons … and others we are keeping for the days to come,” he said.

“Years ago we talked about 100,000 fighters… today we have far exceeded that number,” Nasrallah added.

“The resistance has more (forces) than it needs … even under the worst circumstances,” he said.

Hezbollah on Wednesday claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israeli troops and positions in northern Israel and announced the deaths of four of its fighters.

According to a count by the AFP news agency, at least 478 people were killed in the cross-border violence in Lebanon, most of them fighters, but also 93 civilians.

According to Israeli authorities, at least 15 soldiers and eleven civilians were killed in the north of the country.