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Israel Summons Turkish Envoy Over Half-mast Salute for Hamas Leader

Israel Katz, Foreign Minister to the United Nations speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at UN headquarters in New York, US, March 11, 2024. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Israel Katz, Foreign Minister to the United Nations speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at UN headquarters in New York, US, March 11, 2024. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Israel Summons Turkish Envoy Over Half-mast Salute for Hamas Leader

Israel Katz, Foreign Minister to the United Nations speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at UN headquarters in New York, US, March 11, 2024. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Israel Katz, Foreign Minister to the United Nations speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at UN headquarters in New York, US, March 11, 2024. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Israel's foreign ministry summoned the deputy Turkish ambassador for a reprimand on Friday after Türkiye's embassy in Tel Aviv lowered its flag to half mast in response to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

"The State of Israel will not tolerate expressions of mourning for a murderer like Ismail Haniyeh," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

Haniyeh was killed in Tehran while there to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not made any official claim of responsibility for his death but Iran and allies including Hamas and Hezbollah have accused Israel of the assassination and vowed revenge, Reuters reported.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared Friday, Aug 2, a day of national mourning for Haniyeh.

Tensions between Israel and Türkiye have risen sharply since the start of the war in Gaza, in which more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed.

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Cyprus Prepares to Help People Evacuate from Mideast in Case War Expands

A Middle East Airlines plane flies over Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida beach as it approaches Beirut International Airport on August 2, 2024. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
A Middle East Airlines plane flies over Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida beach as it approaches Beirut International Airport on August 2, 2024. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
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Cyprus Prepares to Help People Evacuate from Mideast in Case War Expands

A Middle East Airlines plane flies over Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida beach as it approaches Beirut International Airport on August 2, 2024. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
A Middle East Airlines plane flies over Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida beach as it approaches Beirut International Airport on August 2, 2024. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)

Cyprus’ foreign minister said Friday that authorities are in touch with the diplomatic missions of nations that may opt to evacuate their citizens through the east Mediterranean island nation if the Israeli-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip expands to engulf neighboring countries.

Minister Constantinos Kombos said agencies have been mobilized as part of the country’s long-standing evacuation action plan called ESTIA. He said there’s a “serious danger” of conflict expanding further, which would affect the entire region.

Kombos said Cyprus’ role is to “operate as a bridge of safety” in the region in the event of mass evacuations of third-country citizens from the Middle East.

Since October, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged strikes near-daily over the Lebanon-Israel border, killing more than 500 people in Lebanon — including about 100 civilians — and 22 soldiers and 25 civilians in Israel. They include 12 children and teenagers killed by a missile that hit a soccer field in the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Saturday.

Israel blamed Hezbollah for the strike; Hezbollah denied responsibility. Days later, Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in a rare strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs for which Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate, triggering fears that the conflict could spiral out of control.

In 2023, Cyprus acted as a waystation for third-country evacuees from Sudan and Israel after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The island nation also helped in the evacuation of tens of thousands of third-country nationals during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict.