Activists from AFOA, Genocide Free Cy, and United for Palestine shared posts about an action in which signs were placed along roads leading to the Akrotiri airbase, renaming them ‘Genocide Bases’ in protest of alleged military involvement in the Gaza conflict. The move follows claims that two planes departed from the base for Gaza as of Tuesday.

In a joint Instagram post, the groups accused the Royal Air Force (RAF) of conducting reconnaissance flights over Gaza since the start of the war, pointing to the alleged flights as evidence.

“The base has also been used for military cargo flights to Israel and for US special forces missions, making it a key supporter of Israel’s war crimes”, the post stated.

Reconnaissance flights are military missions designed to gather intelligence through aerial photography, video recording, or advanced radar and sensor technology, aiding military planning and surveillance.

Separately, Genocide Free Cy alleged on Thursday that an “unidentified cargo aircraft” landed at Larnaca airport on Saturday, originating from Germany’s Ramstein Air Base, a major hub for US Air Force operations in the Middle East and Africa.

The group also claimed that multiple flights, reportedly operated by Nato, departed from Larnaca for Israel and Jordan between Saturday and Monday, with no official explanation regarding their purpose.

According to their accounts, an aircraft travelled to Israel on Sunday morning, returned to Larnaca the same evening, then departed for Jordan before conducting a second flight to Israel on Monday.

Akrotiri, genocide, SBA, bases, British bases

Claiming that Cypriot airports have been used by aircrafts linked to states supporting Israel’s military actions in the past, the group raised concerns about the transparency of Cyprus’s role in Israeli military logistics.

The groups called the alleged flights troubling amid escalating regional tensions, warning that such operations risk violating international law without public scrutiny.

Hermes Airports declined a request from Cyprus Mail for comment.

Uncertainty surrounding RAF operations at its Cyprus bases amid the Israel-Hamas war has raised serious concerns. Reports indicate that British military aircraft have been flying between RAF Akrotiri and Israel, with UK officials stating they have no obligation to inform Cyprus about their operations.

In December 2023, two months into the war, a report by the investigative journalism outlet Declassified UK suggested that President Nikos Christodoulides was not fully informed about the UK’s military activities on the island. The report counted 33 RAF flights between Akrotiri and Tel Aviv during the conflict.

The report also noted that prior to the war, no British military flights were recorded between Akrotiri and Israel. In response, the UK Ministry of Defence stated that the RAF had conducted 17 flights to Tel Aviv to support diplomatic efforts and evacuate British nationals, insisting that none of the flights transported lethal aid. In January 2024, reports emerged that British bases in Cyprus, including Akrotiri, were used in US-led airstrikes on Yemen.

Established in 1955, RAF Akrotiri serves as a key base for the Cyprus Operations Support Unit. It provides logistical and operational support to British Forces Cyprus and regional military operations to protect the UK’s “strategic interests”.