Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah

Pro-Palestinian campaigners protested at the gates of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on Sunday, accusing Britain of offering tacit support to Israel's ongoing operations in Gaza and elsewhere.

While Hamas and Hezbollah regroup and issue threats of a sweeping counterattack, Israel continues to strike military targets in Lebanon.

Athens is preparing for a potential evacuation of Greek nationals from the Middle East as regional tensions escalate.

Military and political resources may be mobilized for evacuations from the region, including Lebanon and Israel, with Cyprus as the first stop. Greece has also offered to assist in evacuating citizens of other nationalities.

Regular puffs of smoke from missile intercepts over northern Israel and fires from air strikes in southern Lebanon are outward signs of a fear that the Gaza war may be expanding into a wider conflict, which analysts say poses risks for both sides.

The EU's representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, had a phone call on Friday with the Cypriot foreign minister, Constantinos Kombos, regarding Hezbollah's recent threats against Cyprus. 

During the call, Borell expressed his solidarity with Cyprus and called for de-escalation in the Middle East. 

Cyprus reacted with incredulity on Thursday to warnings from Lebanon's Hezbollah that the island could be dragged into conflict if tensions with Israel blew up into a fully-fledged war.

Hezbollah supporters raise their fists and cheer as they watch a speech given by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on a screen during a ceremony to commemorate the death of senior Hezbollah commander Taleb Sami Abdullah, 55, who was killed last week by an Israeli strike in south Lebanon, in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 19, 2024.

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Wednesday that nowhere in Israel would be safe if a full-fledged war breaks out between the two foes, and he also threatened Cyprus and other parts of the Mediterranean.

Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah traded fire Saturday in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks, a day after the militia's leader urged retaliation for the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Lebanon's capital.

The leader of Lebanese group Hezbollah described the radical Islamist movement that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria as a growing "monster" that could threaten Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states.