British and US spy planes operating out of Akrotiri base are aiding Israel’s bombing of Gaza, Cyprus Peace Council (CPC) president Tassos Costeas said on Monday.
Speaking on CyBC’s morning programme in the wake of a peace demonstration attended by hundreds of protesters on Sunday, Costeas sought to clarify and counter a statement by the UK Defence Ministry that the RAF had carried out no lethal aid to Israel.
“It is well published that spy planes and planes participating in electronic warfare operations lift off from Akrotiri and aid in the selection of targets by Israeli forces in Gaza,” Costeas said.
According to a report by Declassified UK over 30 military transport flights, operated by the RAF, have flown from RAF Akrotiri to Tel Aviv since the bombing of Gaza began.
Akrotiri has long been the staging post for British bombing campaigns in the Middle East and sits 180 miles from Tel Aviv with a flight time of 40 minutes.
The extent of US involvement from Akrotiri remains opaque to the public with the UK ministry of defence having told the publication that “the Ministry of Defence does not comment on information about Allies’ operations.”
According to the source, one document released by US whistleblower Edward Snowden noted that American intelligence staff are required to dress as tourists around the bases because the UK has promised the Cyprus government that only British staff work there.
Costeas decried the Cyprus government’s lack of principled stance as evidenced by its failure to condemn the atrocities unfolding in Gaza, starting with its abstention in October from the UN security council vote calling for ceasefire.
“In various ways we see the Republic supporting the aggressor,” Costeas said.
Asked about the state sponsored humanitarian aid efforts to Gaza, the CPC head said the results were disappointing and not particularly tangible.
Countering the suggestion that spy plane operations out of Akrotiri were effectively aiding Israel in its capacity towards precision targeting of Hamas strongholds, thereby in fact saving Palestinian lives and avoiding a protracted war, Costeas said the proof was in the evident outcome.
“Over 22,000 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority of whom are women and children. This is the result,” he noted tersely.
Meanwhile, a UK Ministry of Defence spokesman said on Sunday that British forces in Cyprus continue to support the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“We are focused on getting significantly more aid to Gaza and have doubled the UK’s humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people to £60 million,” the defence ministry spokesman added.
Early on Friday morning planes from Akrotiri joined in British bombing raids in Yemen, although the Cyprus government was quick to say it had no role in these attacks.
Britain is not obliged to seek permission from Cyprus for operations out of Akrotiri under the terms of the bases’ presence on the island.
The UK respects and supports the right to peaceful protest and the “British forces in Cyprus are a force for good in the region and play a vital role in supporting humanitarian and disaster relief operations.”
Demonstrators at Akrotiri said the bases were a destabilising force in the region and called for them to be closed down.
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