The defence ministry declined to confirm or deny whether proposals for a joint rapid task force were discussed, following reports made in the Israeli and Greek press suggesting that such proposals were being formulated.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail on Friday, the ministry neither accepted nor rejected that the issue had been raised in any capacity during recent discussions held on Wednesday between Cyprus, Greece and Israel’s air force chiefs of staff.

On Thursday, Palmas took to the dais on Alpha tv to play down reports of the apparent confidential meeting.

He insisted ‘decisions of such magnitude could only be taken by political leadership’ and said no such issue had been raised at his level.

While stopping short of calling the reports fanciful, he warned against bringing confidential matters into the public domain.

Palmas’ comments followed his visit to Israel earlier in the week, where he met his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz.

He said the talks focused on bilateral defence cooperation and the broader security situation in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as developments following the Gaza ceasefire process.

The reports, first published by Greek newspaper Ta Nea, claimed that Greece Israel and Cyprus were examining the formation of a 2,500 strong rapid reaction force aimed at protecting shared interests against what were described as Turkish provocations.

According to the report, Greece and Israel would each contribute 1,000 troops, with Cyprus providing approximately 500, supported by air and naval installations based across Rhodes, Cyprus and Israel.

President Nicos Christodoulides shall head to Jerusalem on Monday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Their agenda is expected to centre on energy cooperation, including the great sea interconnector, as well as deepening security ties.