AKROTIRI, CYPRUS – Pro-Palestinian activists staged a peaceful protest outside the gates of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, on Sunday, accusing the UK of tacitly supporting Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza and elsewhere. The demonstrators, holding Palestinian and Cypriot flags, chanted slogans like “Out with the bases of death” as they gathered outside the locked gates of Britain’s largest base in the Middle East.
The protest comes amid heightened tensions in the region, with Israel conducting airstrikes in Gaza and Lebanon. Last week, the UK deployed additional troops to Cyprus in preparation for a potential evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon, following Israeli airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Peter Iosif, a representative of the Cyprus Peace Council, which organized the protest, called the British military presence a violation of Cyprus’s sovereignty. He expressed concern over the bases being used for operations counter to the wishes of the Cypriot people.
In response to the protest, a spokesperson for the British bases clarified that no RAF flights have transported lethal cargo to Israel. The UK Ministry of Defence also emphasized that any allied access to the bases is strictly for evacuation and humanitarian purposes, in line with UK policy.