Cyprus has completed preparations for a potential evacuation of foreigners from Lebanon and Israel, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told Cypriot news agency CNA on Tuesday.
The plans come amid fears that Iran and its proxies could soon launch major attacks on Israel and push the region into a wider war.
Kombos said that Cyprus could accommodate a large number of people – including citizens of other EU countries and third-country nationals – provided they travel on to their home countries in due time.
In the Mediterranean island’s port city of Larnaca, beds have already been set up in schools and hygiene facilities prepared.
Cyprus is the European Union member state closest to the Middle East, with the flight from Lebanon to Cyprus taking about 35 minutes.
The foreign minister recalled that during the 2006 Lebanon War, Cyprus temporarily took in around 60,000 people.
Ferries could also be used to bring evacuees to the Cypriot port cities of Limassol or Larnaca. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, people have already been brought to safety several times via these sea routes.
Worries of an all-out regional war have grown following the recent targeted killings of two leading figures, one from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the other from the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
Iran and Hezbollah announced they would undertake massive retaliatory strikes against Israel in response to the assassinations. The Israeli armed forces have been on high alert for days.
