There can be “disastrous penalties” if the warfare within the Center East spreads to Lebanon, International Minister Constantinos Kombos stated on Tuesday.
Talking to the Home overseas affairs committee, he stated the scenario within the area “is worsening”, however that the federal government is making preparations for each eventuality.
“The Republic of Cyprus, on this context, is getting ready for such an eventuality, for the evacuation of third nation nationals from Lebanon,” he stated, including that the variety of those that would probably must be evacuated might exceed 100,000.
Moreover, he stated that residents of each Lebanon and Israel can also must be evacuated to or by way of Cyprus, and that there’s additionally the chance of elevated flows of refugees to the island, given the massive variety of Syrian nationals who stay in Lebanon.
Beneath such a set of circumstances, the evacuations could be made underneath the federal government’s ‘Estia’ motion plan, which was final activated in October to facilitate the arrival and onward repatriation of third nation nationals from Israel.
He additionally made reference to the threats made by Hezbollah towards Cyprus final month, denying the claims that Cyprus is celebration to the battle within the Center East.
“Cyprus has nothing to do with aiding Israel’s army operations and it’ll not achieve this,” he stated, including that President Nikos Christodoulides had set this out “within the clearest doable phrases”.
“We should all do all the things we will to ship messages to either side that any additional growth of the battle could be extraordinarily harmful,” he added.
Requested whether or not the Cypriot authorities had condemned Israel’s actions, he identified that his ministry had on Could 30 stated it “strongly deplores the current strikes inflicting devastation and the deaths of so many civilians, together with kids, in Rafah.”
As well as, he stated it has “not come to the federal government’s consideration” that acts of aggression have been produced from the British bases on the island and stated that the Republic of Cyprus “has not given any approval for such actions”.
Such approval wouldn’t be required for them to be carried out, on condition that the British bases are sovereign territory of the UK, as was evidenced earlier this yr when the UK used its Akrotiri base to bomb Yemen on a number of events.
He additionally touched on the matter of Cyprus’ Amalthea humanitarian assist hall to Gaza, saying {that a} whole of 12,653 pallets of assist, every weighing round a tonne, have been transported from Cyprus to Gaza.
He added that the federal government is holding discussions with the US and different nations to “search for another” to the short-term jetty constructed by the US off the coast of Gaza, which is as soon as once more out of motion resulting from wave heights exceeding its reported most of 1.25 metres.
