Israel securing Cyprus port in fear of war with Hezbollah

Jerusalem: Israel is seeking to establish a port in the Mediterranean island country of Cyprus in case the port of Haifa is closed in a war with Hezbollah, Israel Hayom reported on 11 March.

The Ministry of Transport has set a goal to establish another port for Israel in Larnaca within 60 days. The establishment of the port is meant to coincide with US plans to establish a floating port off the coast of Gaza, allegedly to deliver aid to millions of besieged and faminestricken Palestinians.

A delegation from the Israeli Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety, led by the chairman of the Israel Ports Company, Uzi Itzhaki, left for Cyprus on Monday. The port is expected to cost hundreds of millions of shekels, and efforts to establish it will be carried out immediately.The delegation seeks to establish the port in response to security scenarios provided by the ministry’s head, Miri Regev.

Establishing a port in Larnaca is an urgent need for Israel to avoid a wartime situation where it is cut off from commercial and military supplies.

Specifically, Israel fears a situation where the Haifa port in northern Israel is closed due to a full-scale war with Hezbollah.

The Lebanese resistance movement has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including those capable of hitting Haifa and even Tel Aviv.

Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since 8 October, but the fighting has been limited mainly to missile, drone, and artillery strikes from both sides near the Israeli– Lebanese border areas.

The Ashdod port was closed following the Hamasled 7 October attack, forcing Israel to redirect shipping to Eilat. The port in Eilat was then targeted by Ansarallahled Yemeni forces.

Contrary to news reports, the main goal in establishing the Cyprus port is not to transfer aid to Gaza.

A source familiar with the matter told Israel Hayom that Israel also intends the Larnaca port to be part of an alternative transportation axis to connect Europe and India through Israel. Israel hopes to establish such a route within the framework of a future normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia.