Opposition party AKEL on Wednesday called on the government to condemn the genocide in Gaza and said that the British bases in Cyprus are a security risk for the country.

The left-wing party called for immediate de-escalation in the Middle East, a ceasefire, and peace, urging all sides to heed UN appeals to prevent a wider regional conflict.

AKEL criticised the Netanyahu government’s actions, accusing it of simultaneously attacking Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria while seeking confrontation with Iran. The party warned that such a scenario could lead to “countless human lives lost, rivers of blood, new displacements and refugees, devastation and levelling”.

The party deemed “unacceptable” the stance of the Cypriot government, the EU, and the West in condemning only actions against Israel while remaining silent on what it termed “genocide and atrocities committed by the State of Israel”.

AKEL called on the Christodoulides government to condemn what it described as “genocide in Gaza, the invasion of Lebanon, and all other Israeli war crimes in the region”. The party also urged the government to address the involvement of British bases in Cyprus in the conflict, which it claims multiplies security risks for the island.

In Cyprus