British Bases, Cypriot Shame: Corbyn's Gaza Bill Exposes a Complicity Long Denied

The Cyprus–Israel–UK Triangle of Silence Must Be Broken

In The Guardian editorial dated 3 June 2025, titled “How exactly has Britain supported Israel’s military assault on Gaza? The public has a right to know,” former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded answers:

“We have also repeatedly asked for the truth regarding the role of British military bases in Cyprus, concerning the transfer of arms to Israel and the supply of military intelligence.”

It is a statement as powerful as it is overdue. For too long, Cyprus has served as a geostrategic blind spot, used, misused, and militarised under the guise of European diplomacy and British imperial remnants. RAF Akrotiri, under full UK sovereignty, has facilitated hundreds of military and surveillance missions that directly support Israel’s war effort in Gaza. Yet the British government refuses transparency, while the Greek Cypriot leadership in the south has not only stayed silent—but actively deepened its partnership with Israel, diplomatically and militarily. 

This is not just a British scandal. It is a Cypriot one too—and those responsible must be held accountable.

Aerial Surveillance and Silent Support: Britain's Role in Gaza

RAF Akrotiri – The Eye Over Gaza

RAF Akrotiri, a sprawling UK sovereign base in the south of Cyprus, has been critical to Britain’s military surveillance infrastructure. According to verified defence analysis and flight tracking data, over 500 surveillance missions have departed from Akrotiri since the renewed Israeli assault on Gaza began in late 2023. These flights have provided the Israeli Defence Forces with live intelligence, mapping infrastructure, communications, and possibly even real-time targeting support.

These are not speculative allegations. They form the very backbone of Corbyn’s campaign to force a formal inquiry through Parliament—a public reckoning with Britain’s role in facilitating what may constitute war crimes.

Yet the UK continues to hide behind bureaucratic opacity, refusing to disclose the exact nature of its intelligence-sharing arrangements with Israel, despite mounting civilian casualties and widespread allegations of ethnic cleansing and disproportionate force.

Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill - Full speech

Call for an independent inquiry into the UK's involvement in Gaza has passed its 1st reading in Parliament.

The Sovereignty Smokescreen

The UK’s presence on Cypriot soil stems from colonial-era arrangements frozen in time. The Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are considered British sovereign territory under the 1960 Treaty of Establishment, signed during the formation of the Republic of Cyprus. Yet this sovereignty has long been a geopolitical shield, a mechanism that allows Britain to operate extrajudicially on EU-adjacent soil, while maintaining plausible deniability in the face of international legal scrutiny.

But sovereignty is no longer an excuse for complicity. These bases have become launchpads for regional militarisation, not peacekeeping, and both Britain and the Cypriot authorities who benefit from this presence must answer for it.

Cyprus’s Double Game: Hosting Genocide While Preaching Peace

The Greek Cypriot Leader's Partnership With Netanyahu

President Nikos Christodoulides, the Greek Cypriot leader, has not only allowed the continued military use of RAF Akrotiri without public objection, he has also forged an increasingly close diplomatic and strategic alliance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

In May 2025, Christodoulides travelled to Israel under the banner of "regional diplomacy," sparking protests in the streets of Lefkoşa and elsewhere in the south. Activists and human rights campaigners decried the visit as "immoral" and "deeply shameful," arguing that Cyprus should not be hosting war criminals while claiming to be a peace broker.

“How can the Greek Cypriot administration speak of human rights while embracing Netanyahu in the midst of a genocide?”

The silence from Christodoulides’s government on the ICC warrants is deafening. His embrace of the Netanyahu regime not only signals diplomatic alignment, but moral endorsement—a position completely at odds with the principles of international justice.

Energy and Arms: Strategic Entanglement With Israel

The Greek Cypriot administration has also signed extensive energy and security agreements with Israel, including:

• Joint offshore natural gas extraction partnerships in the Eastern Mediterranean.

• Participation in the EuroAsia Interconnector project to link electricity grids from Israel to mainland Europe via Cyprus.

• The purchase and deployment of Israeli military hardware, including the Barak MX missile defence system.

• A history of joint military drills, including Israeli F‑35 operations from Cypriot airspace.

These are not neutral economic agreements. They militarise Cyprus and embed it in the very infrastructure enabling Israel’s regional dominance. The more Cyprus cooperates with the Israeli war machine, the more it shares the weight of moral and legal responsibility.

Accountability Must Be Territorial and Political

Britain Must Not Hide Behind Geography

Corbyn’s bill is more than a moral statement, it is a legal imperative. Under international humanitarian law, the facilitation of war crimes or crimes against humanity by third-party states constitutes complicity. By allowing Akrotiri to serve as a staging ground for surveillance and logistical support, Britain has moved beyond neutrality.

If proven, this is not just an error in judgment, it is a breach of the Geneva Conventions, and one for which ministers and commanders could be held liable.

Cyprus Cannot Remain a Silent Partner

It is no longer tenable for Cyprus to pretend its role is passive or symbolic. The Greek Cypriot administration profits politically and strategically from its partnership with Israel and its acquiescence to British operations. Christodoulides’ government welcomes Israeli leaders under indictment, facilitates energy corridors that bind Cyprus to Israeli security frameworks, and quietly ignores the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza.

Such actions are not the signs of neutrality or peacekeeping. They are the hallmarks of a regime willing to trade ethics for alliances.

A Brief Note of Clarification: Cyprus Does Not Speak For All

It is also essential to clarify that not all of Cyprus is represented by the Greek Cypriot administration. The northern part of the island, governed by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), has long been politically, legally, and administratively distinct. Yet the international community continues to treat Cyprus as a single diplomatic actor.

In doing so, it erases the voice and agency of those who have no say in the decisions made by the Greek Cypriot leadership, including decisions that implicate the island in military operations and genocidal warfare.

The TRNC has no involvement in RAF Akrotiri, Israeli arms deals, or Christodoulides’s diplomatic maneuvers. The international community must be careful not to conflate the actions of one administration with the identity of an entire island.

TCE Conclusion: Inquiry Is Only the First Step, The Real Question Is Justice

Jeremy Corbyn’s bill offers Parliament an opportunity to examine the UK’s role in Gaza. But the inquiry must not stop there. It must cast light on the silent enablers, those who host, those who profit, and those who partner without conscience. Cyprus, or more precisely the Greek Cypriot administration, stands at the heart of that complicity.

This is not a moment for neutrality. This is a moment for truth. For scrutiny. For justice.

RAF Akrotiri must be investigated.
Christodoulides’s alliance with Netanyahu must be condemned.
And both the UK and Cyprus must be held to account, not just for what they did, but for what they allowed to happen.