Initial reports said Cyprus received an SOS distress signal and sent a ship to help extinguish a fire which had resulted on board.
The defence ministry in Cyprus clarified that the ship was aided by a Limassol-based vessel, sailing under a Liberian flag, which happened to be in the area and responded to the SOS as per international maritime requirements.
Netanyahu’s game plan is now clear: prolong the war as long as possible; seal all the land borders, ending with Rafah; and make the sea the only escape route for Palestinians from Gaza.
Behind the hot words of condemnation, Biden and the EU have thus far played into his hands. The infrastructure for just such a plan is being built before our eyes, with Washington’s willing assistance. (…)
The plan for a maritime route to Gaza via Cyprus was initiated by Netanyahu, a senior diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post. “Netanyahu took the initiative to establish maritime humanitarian aid for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, in collaboration with the Biden administration,” the source said.
The date when this happened is more important than the identity of the scheme’s author. According to this report, Netanyahu outlined his strategy to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on 31 October, just three weeks after the Hamas attack, and revisited the matter with Biden on 19 January.
In other words, the floating pier was not a reaction to impending famine. It was part of the planning that created it.
The United States announced an emergency mission led by the U.S. military to establish a temporary pier in Gaza, in coordination with humanitarian partners and other countries, to enable the delivery of significant quantities of assistance by sea. These efforts will be closely coordinated with the Government of Israel.
The delivery of humanitarian assistance directly to Gaza by sea will be complex, and our nations will continue to assess and adjust our efforts to ensure we deliver aid as effectively as possible. This maritime corridor can—and must—be part of a sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial commodities into Gaza through all possible routes.
Israel‘s offensive cyber industry accounts for a wide variety of surveillance and espionage technologies. A number of these are tools sold to policing bodies which reveal the geographic location of a target. There are also more advanced technologies, sold to law enforcement and intelligence bodies, which allow clients to hack into computers, mobile phones and encrypted messaging apps, extracting all information stored on a device and secretly turning on its microphone and camera to create a tool which spies on its owner.
In wake of the Project Pegasus investigation, the European Parliament began checking lawmakers devices – the head of the Greek socialist party’s phone had Predator, which is produced by a firm called Cytrox, is almost identical to the infamous Pegasus spyware made by the competing and more famous cyber firm NSO Group. Predator is similar to Pegasus in terms of its capabilities, but differs in the way it infects a device: It requires the victim to click on a link, while some versions of Pegasus do not.
Cytrox is owned by a firm called Intellexa which, though currently based in Greece, is run by a former Israeli military intelligence official Tal Dilian. Though the firm is registered abroad, sources say many of its workers are Israelis and the company may even have staff in Israel. Until recently, the Intellexa was based in Cyprus.signs of an attempted infection
Turkey’s Anadolu news agency cited Ersin Tatar, president of the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, insisting that Turkish troops in Northern Cyprus would never leave.
The „Cyprus problem is now part of a broader geopolitical context“ of „future relations between the EU and Turkey“, and on gas in the eastern Mediterranean, said Ioannou.
The Foreign Ministry protested the recent agreement reached between Israel, Greece and Greek Cyprus advancing plans to build a 2,000-megawatt undersea electricity cable connecting the three.
The CSEO is taking part in a major international research project on Mars, in collaboration with three other European countries as well as the United States.
Representatives from Greece and Turkey are due to meet at NATO headquarters on Tuesday for technical military talks in a bid to de-escalating tension
After talks with the leaders of Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Cyprus in the resort of Porticcio outside the local capital Ajaccio, Macron adopted a slightly milder tone, saying the leaders wanted to reengage in a dialogue with Turkey „in good faith“.
The assignment has been given to a multinational consortium led by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Corporation (CPPEC). The floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) includes onshore pipelines and additional facilities will be built at Vassiliko Port. The FSRU will have 125,000 m3 of storage capacity while being capable of unloading LNG carriers ranging from 120,000 m3 to 217,000 m3. The project’s value is €500 million and is co-financed by a 40 percent grant from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which is scheduled for completion in 2021.
“Much of Noble’s upstream value comes from its positions in Israel and Cyprus,” writes Jean-Baptiste Bouzard, an industry analyst with WoodMac. Bouzard thinks that the acquisition will boost development plans for Noble’s Aphrodite discovery, offshore Cyprus, as well as ramping up production from its flagship assets in Israel, Tamar and Leviathan.”
However, because of the concave shape of the eastern Mediterranean, there is an overlap between the areas that each country can claim, requiring negotiations and compromise – and opportunity, some say, for leverage in ongoing conflicts.
He added that the UN and the British Bases have already been informed on the move, which Ioannou said is being taken for the protection of both communities.
Several crossing points have been dotted along a United Nations-controlled ‘green line’ across the island since the first one opened in central Nicosia in early 2003.
According to a press release issued by the Italian Embassy in Nicosia, the frigate is conducting patrolling operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, for presence and surveillance activities, in compliance with international law and to safeguard national interests.
Dumont noted that France also has its eyes set on joining the East Med Gas Forum, a platform for East Mediterranean natural gas cooperation, which was formally established as an international organization earlier this month when a memorandum of understanding was signed in Cairo by Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan and Palestine.
“The UK has been clear from the start that we deplore Turkish drilling in the waters around Cyprus. We continue to call for de-escalation. The UK has consistently stated our support for the Republic of Cyprus’ sovereign right to exploit the oil and gas in its internationally agreed Exclusive Economic Zone,” the British High Commission spokesperson said.
Turkey has blocked a request from Cyprus to participate as an observer at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, amid growing tensions between the two countries.
In a written statement, the Turkish foreign ministry’s spokesman Hami Aksoy said on Thursday the East Med Gas Forum was in fact “an unrealistic initiative launched by some countries with political motives, under illusions of excluding Turkey from energy equation in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
He also revealed he has sent letters outlining Greece’s positions to his European Union counterparts, and European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Meanwhile, Libya’s Khalifa Haftar, commander of the eastern Libyan forces, arrived in Athens on Thursday night and held an informal meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias ahead of their official talks on Friday. He will also hold talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Parliament.
Cyprus Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Christodoulides pays an official visit to Greece, on Monday, during which he is expected to sign with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias a Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations and Technical Cooperation and will be received by Greece`s President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
State-funded broadcaster RIK News aired Thursday morning video footage of a C130 airplane and 5 or 6 Chinook helicopters over Paphos, saying the aircraft landed and were on stand-by at Andreas Papandreou AFB, an active air base adjacent to Paphos International Airport.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accidently referred to Israel as a „nuclear power“ during a cabinet meeting Sunday, immediately correcting himself to „energy power.“
Speaking about a trilateral summit in Athens over the weekend, where Israel signed a deal with Greece and Cyprus for the construction of the EastMed natural gas pipeline to Europe.
Accompanying Netanyahu to Athens will be Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz. The two will meet with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Netanyahu will also meet with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
Egypt and Israel, which have invested heavily in energy exploration in the region, are alarmed by the Turkey-Libya move, which may threaten their ability to export gas to Europe. Egypt has called it “illegal and not binding”, while Israel has said it could “jeopardize peace and stability in the area”.
They also reaffirmed commitment to boosting cooperation within the framework of the Jordanian-Cypriot-Greek coordination framework.
Ankara ready to defend government in Tripoli in latest policy to inflame tensions with US, EU, Greece and Middle East countries
A senior navy officer from the Tobruk-based rival forces reportedly said he was ordered by Haftar to sink any approaching Turkish research vessels.
Haftar, who failed to capture Tripoli in a major attack earlier this year, announced late Thursday that the „decisive battle“ to seize Tripoli began.
The earlier memorandum on maritime boundaries asserted Turkey‘s rights in the Eastern Mediterranean in the face of unilateral drilling by the Greek Cypriot administration, clarifying that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) also has rights to the resources in the area. It went into effect on Dec. 8.