Hezbollah leader threatens Cyprus as tensions with Israel ramp up
CNNBeirut CNN — The leader of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah threatened Wednesday to target the European island of Cyprus if war breaks out between Israel and Lebanon. “Cyprus will be part of this war too” if it opens its airports and bases to Israeli forces, Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address that came just a day after Israel warned the powerful Iran-backed militant group that the prospect of “all-out war” was “getting very close.” The comments by the Hezbollah leader are the first time he has threatened Cyprus, a member of the European Union that lies in the Mediterranean sea, roughly 125 miles from Lebanon, and which has held joint military exercises with Israel since 2014 and as recently as last year. Nasrallah’s threat came as part of a fiery response to Israel’s warning that saw him boast of his group’s growing capabilities and threaten to “shake the pillars” of Israel if a war “were to be imposed on Lebanon.” Tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have been rising since the October 7 Hamas attacks and the ensuing military campaign by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza. However, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer called the drone video the usual “mischief making propaganda” and said “we know precisely how to deal with one way or the other – diplomatically or through military means.” Video Ad Feedback Tensions are rising between Israel and Hezbollah 03:24 - Source: CNN Israeli military increasing readiness Israel has been preparing for the possibility that diplomatic efforts to reduce hostilities with Hezbollah could fail. “We have many more forces in the IDF that are engaged in an offensive against Hezbollah,” Halevi said in a conversation with Israeli troops at an aerial defense battery along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.