Why did Hezbollah threaten to attack Cyprus ?
On 19 June, Hezbollah's leader warned Cyprus that it would become a target if it assisted Israel in attacking Lebanon. Causing Cyprus’ government spokesman to stress that ‘Cyprus has never, and will never, facilitate or support any aggressive actions against any country.’
So where have these accusations come from?
Cyprus was under British colonial rule until it won its independence in 1960 but the UK still has two military bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia which have seen a lot of activity over the past eight months.
It is not clear if the Cypriot government is told what the bases are used for or what they’re transporting and the UK is not required to give them that information.
[Middle East Eye on June 29. Middle East Eye is a UK-based news website that covers the Middle East and North Africa. It is reportedly funded by the government of Qatar.]
عن قبرص الغارقة تحت الهيمنة الإسرائيلية
المصارف الإسرائيلية باتت تهيمن على القطاع المصرفي في قبرص، ناهيك بسيطرة شركات الأمن الإسرائيلية وشركات الذكاء الاصطناعي الإسرائيلية على كل مرافق الأمن السيبراني وكاميرات المراقبة
About Cyprus under Israeli domination
Israeli banks now dominate the banking sector in Cyprus, not to mention the control of all cybersecurity facilities and surveillance cameras by Israeli security companies and artificial intelligence companies.
In a speech during the memorial service for the martyr Taleb Sami Abdullah, Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah issued a stern warning to Cyprus, warning it against opening its territory, airspace and airports to Israeli forces from where they launched hostilities against Lebanon in the event of an expansion of the confrontation between the Israeli occupation forces and the Lebanese resistance.
The extent of Israeli penetration
Sayyid Nasrallah revealed that the resistance has information that the Israeli enemy is conducting maneuvers in Cyprus in Cypriot areas and airports, and that it intends to use these airports in its aggression against Lebanon, in the event that its airports and facilities in occupied Palestine are targeted.
Accordingly, Nasrallah sent a strongly worded message to the Cypriot government, saying: "The Cypriot government must know that when Cypriot airports and bases are opened for the war on Lebanon, we will treat Cyprus as if it were a party to the war. Whoever should be afraid in light of the current situation is the enemy, but we will continue to support Gaza and at the same time we are ready for all possibilities. "
This prompted Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides to declar, stressing that "the Republic of Cyprus is in no way involved in war conflicts, it is not part of the problem, it is part of the solution. "
"This rhetoric is not pleasant, does not in any way correspond to reality, and presents Cyprus as involved in war activities. This is completely contrary to reality," stressing that "the Republic of Cyprus is not involved in any way in the war on Gaza," stressing that his country is "part of the solution and not the problem," and stressing that Cyprus has played a role "recognized by the Arab world and the entire international community" in opening a sea corridor that allows the delivery of humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza, from the port of Larnaca.
This presents the reality of the port of Larnaca and covers the fact that this port is under Israeli administration, knowing that there are complex relations between the Zionist entity and Cyprus, especially at the level of security, military and investment coordination.
Port of Larnaca. . . Cypriot or Israeli?
One of the most prominent examples of Israeli domination of the island is the domination of the port of Larnaca, from which aid will be transported by sea to the Gaza Strip, by an Israeli capital company.
Managed by Kition Ocean Holding, which was created by Prosperity Group Ltd. and Reem International, Mirfa has the exclusive long-term right to design, build and finance development, manage, operate and maintain the port and marina in Larnaca, and market real estate in the region. BCS revealed details of the ownership structure of the controlled entity and signed the concession agreement with Kition Holding, which operates a special purpose vehicle for the conclusion of the concession agreement with the Republic of Cyprus.
Prosperity Group is a company registered in Cyprus and belongs to Alexandru Kuroporit Services, a company licensed by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, which was established for the purpose of performing "administrative services".
Reem International is a company duly registered in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Cyprus, and the purposes for which it is incorporated are to operate as a holding company. As such, it has 50 percent partial ownership of its parent company, Eldman.
Eldman was founded to manage, operate and promote businesses and companies, and to participate in investments, including land development, as well as investments and development of large-scale mixed-use properties.
The objective of this merger is to manage the port of Larnaca. The port is versatile and serves all types of cargo, with the provision of related port services including maintaining safe maritime access to the port, navigation, navigational aids, provision of cargo handling services and transit trade management, facilitation of the provision of essential port ship services by third parties, and other sea-related services.
The company owns Prospirite Group, a real estate investment and development company, with offices in the UK and Cyprus. The company was founded in 2006 by Panos Alexandru, who in 2006 began buying 3 and 4-bedroom townhouses in Guildford for rental to students studying at the University of Surrey. Since then, the group has become a mixed-use organisation, aiming to invest in real estate in the UK, Cyprus and Croatia, and then move to investing across Europe, with a focus on the UK, Cyprus, Croatia and the Netherlands.
Who is Yakir Gabbay?!
So far, things seem unsuspected, until the name of Israeli businessman Yakir Gabbay, a Cypriot citizen who invests billions of dollars on the island, appears as the founder, vice chairman and major shareholder of RoundTown, a global real estate giant with a $30 billion real estate portfolio.
Roundtown acquired a stake in Kition Ocean, giving it control of the management of the port of Larnaca. Yakir Gabbay's name also comes to light when talking about a huge investment of €856 million in the Aya Villa project, which includes the construction of a private school, a medical institution and a research and innovation center.
Yakir Gabbay is listed on Forbes magazine's list of real estate entrepreneurs, with an estimated net worth of $3. 4 billion, and he owns 40 percent of the shares of Grand City Properties, a subsidiary of Roundtown, which owns about 65,000 apartments in Germany and London.
Roundtown is a real estate company duly registered under the laws of Luxembourg and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and was founded by Yakir Gabbay in 2004 and currently serves as Vice Chairman. The company has investments in Central European cities, with most of them in Germany, the Netherlands and London.
In the summer of 2021, Yakir Gabbay began acquiring large areas of real estate land near Limassol in Cyprus, amounting to 949,916 square meters, for an estimated amount of 28 million euros. These lands are located in the Ayia Villa area, 250 meters east of the Limassol-Platrice road, specifically on the eastern side of the highway under construction, which will connect Limassol to Moniatis.
Yakir Gabbay plans to develop a residential complex on the plot, through Rufino Real Estate Ltd. The proposed project will include a private school, a rehabilitation centre for a European-branded medical institution, which will support subsidized living units, a research and innovation centre, a business park, a multi-activity sports centre, a green area for the business park, and an individual and structured residential project with a structure.
The proposed project is expected to be built gradually, with construction to be completed by 2030.
Born in 1966 in occupied Jerusalem, Yakir Gabbay is the son of Meir Gabbay, the former director general of the Israeli Ministry of Justice, who also served as Israel's civil service commissioner. His father was elected President of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal while his mother was a senior official in the Israeli Attorney General's Office and Director of the Amnesty Department at the Israeli Ministry of Justice.
Yakir Gabbay holds a degree in economics and accounting, as well as an MBA from the Hebrew University. He began his life in the Israeli public sector and later became involved in investment banking.
Among other things, he served as CEO of the investment banking division of Bank Leumi, one of Israel's largest banks, and as chairman of the Israeli company Gamol Investment, which manages a pension fund and real estate and securities investments, with a total value of $30 billion.
The aforementioned is only the tip of the iceberg of the extent to which the Israelis have penetrated the island of Cyprus in various fields. Information indicates that Israeli companies have made extensive purchases of real estate in southern and northern Cyprus.
At the same time, Israeli banks have come to dominate the island's banking sector, not to mention that Israeli security companies and artificial intelligence companies control all cybersecurity facilities and surveillance cameras on the island.
[Al-Mayadeen on June 23. Al Mayadeen is an Iran-aligned Lebanese pan-Arabist satellite TV channel based in Beirut.]
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