Israeli media: US missiles transited Cyprus en route to Israel

Cyprus served as a transit for US missiles delivered to Israel as the country prepared its defences for the coming Iranian barrage last weekend, Israeli media reported on Thursday evening.

The Cyprus News Agency cited the report broadcast by Kan 11, an Israeli state-owned free-to-air television channel.

According to the Israeli channel, citing military sources, US missiles stored in Qatar were transferred first to Cyprus, and from here to Israel.

The US-provided missiles are said to have been transported from somewhere in Cyprus to the final destination in Israel – Nevatim airbase in the Negev desert.

Nevatim airbase was one of the facilities struck by Iran during the early morning of April 14.

The same Israeli report said Cyprus was chosen as the transit so as to spare Qatar’s political leadership the embarrassment of appearing to directly assist Israel. Qatar and Israel have no diplomatic relations.

The Kan 11 channel said also that so far there has been no comment from the governments of Qatar, Israel or the United States.

In November last year reports surfaced in a segment of British media that the Royal Air Force made dozens of military transport flights from Akrotiri here to Tel Aviv soon after Israel began bombing Gaza. The British government confirmed the flights, but refused to comment on the cargo.

RAF Akrotiri sits 180 miles from Tel Aviv with a flight time of 40 minutes.

The website Declassified UK claimed that the United States was using RAF Akrotiri as an international military hub supporting Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. It said at the time that perhaps as many as half of US planes flying from the Sovereign Base Areas were carrying weapons for Israel.