A sign has appeared near RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, highlighting its participation in Israel’s genocide in Gaza:
https://twitter.com/genocidefree_cy/status/1904976269474926598
RAF Akrotiri
Since 2023, Tory-Labour governments in the UK have used RAF Akrotiri to turn the country into an active participant in Israel’s genocide in occupied Gaza. The base is a unique colonial relic on occupied Cypriot territory, and part of the “largest Royal Air Force base outside the United Kingdom”. And as Declassified UK has reported, covert US flights have been leaving from the base throughout Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Dozens of British warplanes, meanwhile, have flown to both Israel, Lebanon, and now to the Red Sea to aid US airstrikes on Yemen. British spy flights and intelligence officers on the ground have also been passing information to Israel.
In short, Britain has been using RAF Akrotiri to support Israel’s interests. As Al Jazeera revealed in October 2024, Britain actually flew nearly half (47%) of 1,600 Israeli reconnaissance missions over Gaza in the first year of the genocide. And considering there are international war-crime arrest warrants out for Israeli leaders, that’s perhaps why UK prime minister Keir Starmer has admitted that “we can’t necessarily tell the world what you’re doing here”.
Just this morning, for example, a flight headed to the Red Sea. Yesterday, a flight went to Gaza. RAF helicopters have been flying around Cyprus today as if it was their island. And Cyprus itself has also allowed “Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane… to land at Larnaca Airport”, despite the international warrant for his arrest.
Shut it down!
Protests against RAF Akrotiri and its participation in Israel’s genocide have been increasing.
Cypriots protesting outside of Akrotiri British military base in Cyprus. Britain has been sending RAF planes to Israel throughout the genocide, and prior to October 2023 had allowed Israeli soldiers to train in our mountains due to the similarities in terrain. pic.twitter.com/5wyXfhVx04
— Sage M Stephanou (@SageStephanou) January 14, 2024
Earlier this month, for example, there were protests in both Britain and Cyprus:
Today, protestors in Britain and Cyprus protested against the RAF bases on Cyprus used to facility Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people.
At the Ministry of Defence in London & RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, our demand is clear: BASES OFF CYPRUS! FREE PALESTINE! pic.twitter.com/0v53LElKzz
— CODEPINK (@codepink) March 9, 2025
A coalition under the name “UK-US: Bases Off Cyprus”, meanwhile, has criticised how:
The UK currently occupies 3% of Cyprus with these military bases which have been used to commit genocide in Gaza, and bomb Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
And it has stressed that:
Cyprus must no longer be a military output for imperialist powers to inflict violence on the world. We demand the RAF bases are immediately closed and the land returned back to the Cypriot people.
It has also launched a petition, saying:
Britain has used this base to launch more than 450 surveillance flights over Gaza, which it has shared with Israel. The ICC must demand this footage from the UK to aid its case against Israel and to assess whether the intelligence has been used to aid Israel’s systematic targeting of infrastructure in Gaza.
To sum up the situation, as if by magic on 27 March Declassified reported that:
The Royal Air Force (RAF) has conducted at least 518 surveillance flights around Gaza since December 2023, an investigation by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) for Declassified UK has found.
Featured image via screengrab
