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Hezbollah Unlikely to Attack Cyprus and East Med
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is seen addressing supporters, in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: Reuters.
JNS.org – Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a speech in June with threats aimed at the East Mediterranean, causing concern in Israel that the Iran-backed terror group based in Lebanon could try and copy Houthi tactics in the Red Sea.
Nasrallah emphasized potential attacks on Israeli assets in the Mediterranean, highlighting the vulnerability of military and commercial shipping, as well as offshore gas facilities.
Jonathan Ruhe, director of foreign policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), told JNS that if Hezbollah shuts down the Eastern Mediterranean to ship traffic, it could impact Israel’s trade and the economy “almost as negatively as attacks on Haifa itself, since this port is a major Israeli lifeline and hub.”
Ruhe said it would “impose yet more strains on the U.S. Navy, which is already extending its deployments and burning through costly, precious munitions as it tries to maintain freedom of navigation across the region.”
“More broadly,” he added, “it could scare off much-needed energy production and exploration in the East Med that benefits the U.S., Israel and their European partners.”
In his speech, Nasrallah referenced past conflicts where Hezbollah surprised Israel with naval strikes, suggesting similar tactics could be employed again.
During the 2006 Second War in Lebanon, Hezbollah damaged the INS Hanit, a Sa’ar 5-class corvette of the Israeli Navy’s 3rd Flotilla, after attacking it with a C-701 anti-ship missile.
Israel apparently did not have the appropriate defensive systems activated at the time.
Hezbollah is believed to have an arsenal of more than 150,000 missiles, including long-range and precision-guided ones that could reach anywhere in Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, dismissed the idea that Hezbollah could block naval traffic in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“I’m not sure Hezbollah has the capability,” he said, unless it coordinates with the Turks.
He suggested that Hezbollah could try to use precision-guided munitions against ships, but pointed out that Israel has defensive capabilities against such threats.
At the end of the day, according to Inbar, Israel isn’t worried that Hezbollah can achieve this.
Nasrallah also warned that Hezbollah would target Cyprus if it allows Israel to utilize its military facilities in any future conflict with Lebanon.
Hanin Ghaddar, Farzin Nadimi and David Schenker of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy wrote in June that Nasrallah’s threat toward Cyprus was not arbitrary, but rooted in longstanding ties between Nicosia and Jerusalem, which have included joint military exercises focused on countering threats from Hezbollah and Iran.
Cyprus has affirmed its neutrality despite hosting British military bases, including RAF Akrotiri, which contribute to regional security. The 1960 Treaty of Establishment grants Britain sovereignty over these bases, with obligations for Cyprus and cooperation mandates for Greece and Turkey in its defense. Cyprus’s E.U. membership could potentially trigger collective defense measures if Hezbollah attacks the island.
Currently, Cyprus lacks a robust air and missile defense network, although plans to acquire Israeli Iron Dome systems have been discussed.
The vulnerability of the island to Hezbollah missile attacks underscores concerns, particularly given its significant allied military presence, including British and U.S. forces and logistical support during regional conflicts.
If Israel lost access to its runways due to Hezbollah bombing and were to launch attacks out of RAF Akrotiri, for example, then it would essentially be launching from British soil, and this would apply if Hezbollah attacked that base, as well.
But according to Inbar, the U.K.—certainly under the current government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer—would not allow Israel to use its bases in Cyprus, and Hezbollah would not target its bases.
Ruhe agreed, though he cautioned “Never say never about anything after October 7, but likely never.”
Ruhe said the British “have been admirably ready to use their Cyprus bases to help defend the region against missiles and drones, and to resupply Israel.”
But, he noted, these are “indirect moves” and “can be framed as defensive, unlike letting Israel use those same bases for offensive operations against Hezbollah, even if Hezbollah fires the first shots in that larger war.”
Israel has no real alternative options if its airfields are neutralized in a Hezbollah strike, and for this reason, according to Ruhe, “the IDF is expected to prioritize its air defenses to protect its airbases in a major war with Hezbollah, even at the cost of leaving much of the rest of country exposed.”
Even if Israel wanted to use Cyprus to attack Hezbollah, Ruhe said, there are complications involved.
“There’s the potential diplomatic blowback of risking a conflict that the E.U., and even NATO via the British bases, want no part of,” he said. “This would be especially true if it looks like Israel launches ‘unprovoked’ attacks from the island, given the world’s eagerness to unfairly and prematurely condemn anything Israel does at this point.”
Ruhe also said that using Cyprus “complicates the Israeli Air Force’s ability to generate the massive number of sorties it’d have to conduct in a big war with Hezbollah, given that the island is farther from Lebanon and wouldn’t have the logistical setup, amenities, etc., of IAF bases at home.”
Ruhe said that if Hezbollah did attack Royal Air Force bases in Cyprus, “it would mean bringing a NATO member into the mix, and threatening an E.U. member, as well.”
He noted that it could “quickly widen a conflict that Hezbollah (and Iran) would rather wage against an Israel that is isolated diplomatically and encircled militarily.”
In addition, Ruhe said, attacking Cyprus “would pose a tradeoff for Hezbollah.”
“Every long-range missile and drone they send toward Cyprus is one less they can use to threaten catastrophic damage on Israel, which is the force-planning construct around which Iran assiduously built Hezbollah into the world’s best-armed non-state actor,” he said.
Ruhe stated that Nasrallah’s threat against Cyprus “underscores two big priorities.”
The first, he said, is that the U.S. “needs to be urgent and serious when it comes to ensuring Israel can wage a major conflict as decisively and swiftly as possible.”
The second, and in tandem, is that “the U.S. needs to clearly warn Tehran and its proxies against trying to broaden any conflict with Israel.”
There are reports that U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein is close to brokering a deal between Israel and Lebanon.
According to Ruhe, the British, like the Americans, “don’t want to assume any more risk in the Middle East, and currently their thinking appears to be that they could still avert, or at least avoid, a major Israel-Hezbollah war.”
The post Hezbollah Unlikely to Attack Cyprus and East Med first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Improved Food for Security Prisoners
Israel’s Supreme Court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday instructed the Prison Service (Shabas) to guarantee adequate food supplies for security prisoners, ruling that current conditions fall short of minimum legal standards. The decision followed an appeal filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
In a 2–1 ruling, the court found that the food situation posed “a risk of non-compliance with legal standards.” Justice Dafna Barak-Erez stressed that the matter concerned “basic conditions necessary for survival, as required by law,” not comfort or privilege. Justice Ofer Grosskopf agreed, noting the state had not shown the policy was consistently applied to all inmates.
Justice David Mintz dissented, maintaining that the existing policy already met legal requirements.
The court underscored that Israel’s legal obligations remain binding, even in light of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza and the fact that many of the prisoners include Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the ruling, arguing that while hostages in Gaza lack protection, “terrorist murderers, kidnappers, and rapists in prison” benefit from the Court’s intervention. He added that prisoners would continue receiving only the minimum conditions required by law.
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Ukrainian Government Building Set Ablaze in Record Russian Airstrike
Illustrative. More damage caused by the Russian drone that hit the Perlina school in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo: Jewish community JCC in Kyiv, Kyiv municipality, and Yan Dobronosov
i24 News – The Ukrainian government’s main building in Kyiv was hit overnight Saturday by Russian airstrikes for the first time since the war, igniting a fire in the building, authorities said. Firefighters are working to put out the flames.
“The government building was damaged by an enemy attack — the roof and upper floors,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said. The blaze is is burning in the area of the office of the prime minister.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 805 drones and 13 missiles overnight on Ukraine — a record number since the start of the war.
Also as a result of the strike, a baby and a young woman were killed after a nine-story residential building was hit in the Svyatoshynsky district, also in Kyiv. Rescuers are still looking for a third body, authorities said. A woman was also reported killed in the strike in Novopavlivka village.
“The world must respond to this destruction not only with words, but also with actions. We need to increase sanctions pressure – primarily against Russian oil and gas. We need new restrictions that will hit the Kremlin’s military machine. And most importantly, Ukraine needs weapons. Something that will stop the terror and prevent Russia from trying to kill Ukrainians every day,” wrote Sviridenko after the attack.
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‘Trump’s Legacy Crumbles’: Israelis Call on US President to End Gaza War
Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages.
Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the hostages. Some carried signs, including one that read: ‘Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists.’
Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over Bibi, that can force Bibi to do this,” said Tel Aviv resident Boaz, 40, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
There is growing despair among many Israelis at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has ordered the military to capture a major urban center where hostages may be held.
Families of the hostages and their supporters fear the assault on Gaza City could endanger their loved ones, a concern the military leadership shares, according to Israeli officials.
Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023 and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens.
“We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American.
Tel Aviv has witnessed weekly demonstrations that have grown in size, with protesters demanding that the government secure a ceasefire with Hamas to obtain the release of hostages. Organizers said Saturday night’s rally was attended by tens of thousands. A large demonstration was also held in Jerusalem.
There are 48 hostages held in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that around 20 are still alive. Palestinian terrorists abducted 251 people from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led its attack. Most of the hostages who have been released were freed after indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
NO PURPOSE
Trump had pledged a swift end to the war in Gaza during his presidential campaign, but nearly eight months into his second term, a resolution has remained elusive. On Friday, he said that Washington was engaged in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
Israeli forces have carried out heavy strikes on the suburbs of Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza but deny that the territory is facing famine. On Saturday, the military warned civilians in Gaza City to leave and move to southern Gaza.
There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in the city that was home to around a million before the war.
A video released by Hamas on Friday featured Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, saying that he was being held in Gaza City and feared being killed by the military’s assault on the city. Rights groups have condemned such videos of hostages as inhumane. Israel says that it is psychological warfare.
The war has become unpopular among some segments of Israeli society, and opinion polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu’s right-wing government to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Hamas that secures the release of the hostages.
“The war has no purpose at all, except for violence and death,” said Boaz from Tel Aviv. Adam, 48, said it had become obvious that soldiers were being sent to war for “nothing.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since it launched its retaliatory war after Hamas fighters attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack on southern Israel.
The terrorist group, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but today controls only parts of the enclave, on Saturday once again said that it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would see all of the hostages released at once and Hamas surrendering.
The prime minister has said Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian militant group, whose October 2023 attack on Israel led to the war.
Hamas has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza once the war ends but has refused to discuss laying down its weapons.