European Countries Step Up Security at Jewish Sites

A resident stands with an Israeli soldier near a cordoned-off Israeli police station that was damaged during battles the previous day to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
A resident stands with an Israeli soldier near a cordoned-off Israeli police station that was damaged during battles the previous day to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
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European Countries Step Up Security at Jewish Sites

A resident stands with an Israeli soldier near a cordoned-off Israeli police station that was damaged during battles the previous day to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
A resident stands with an Israeli soldier near a cordoned-off Israeli police station that was damaged during battles the previous day to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

Germany and France on Saturday moved to reinforce security around Jewish temples, schools and monuments after the surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel.

Germany tightened police protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions, as some supporters of the Palestinians took to the streets of Berlin to celebrate the attack.

France focused on Jewish temples and schools in cities across the country, as one Jewish leader expressed concern at the possibility the conflict might be imported there.

"In Berlin, police protection has been immediately stepped up," Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told Bild newspaper. "The federal government and the regions are closely coordinating their actions."

Germany's authorities were also closely watching "potential supporters of Hamas in the Islamist sphere", she added.

Berlin police posted photos on social media showing "people celebrating the attacks on Israel by passing out pastries" on Sonnenallee, the main avenue in the city's Neukoelln district.

Police had in some cases carried out identity checks and filed complaints, they added.

The German account of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network posted photos of the distribution of pastries on the streets of Berlin and a message celebrating "the resistance of the Palestinian people".

Later Saturday, Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of reunified Germany, was lit up in the colors of the Israeli flag.

"In solidarity with Israel," wrote Chancellor Olaf Scholz on X, formerly Twitter. Israel's ambassador replied on the same platform, thanking him for "this beautiful symbol".

In France, security had already been stepped up at synagogues in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Strasbourg because of religious holidays observed since late September.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin sent an urgent message to regional officials asking them to reinforce surveillance even further.

"At a time when terrorist attacks from Gaza are hitting Israel, I ask you to immediately step up vigilance, security and protection of Jewish community sites in France," he wrote in a message seen by AFP.

He called for a "visible and systematic static presence", and the use of soldiers from France's Operation Sentinelle, a special force deployed across the country since the 2015 terror attacks.

In the east of France, increased surveillance of Jewish schools and synagogues in the city of Strasbourg was being organised, said Pierre Haas, of the Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF).

"We were very shocked and worried by this outburst of violence," he told AFP.

Knowing the Israeli army would hit back, he said, "we're not reassured by the possibility of the conflict being imported to France".

Police sources confirmed that security had also been stepped up in the southern port city of Marseille, the north of France and in the Paris region.

London's police service said late Saturday it had increased patrols across parts of the UK capital after "a number of incidents ... in relation to the ongoing conflict in Israel and the border with Gaza".



Türkiye Insists on Two States for Ethnically Divided Cyprus as the UN Looks to Restart Peace Talks

UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
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Türkiye Insists on Two States for Ethnically Divided Cyprus as the UN Looks to Restart Peace Talks

UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Türkiye on Wednesday again insisted on a two-state peace accord in ethnically divided Cyprus as the United Nations prepares to meet with all sides in early spring in hopes of restarting formal talks to resolve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Cyprus “must continue on the path of a two-state solution” and that expending efforts on other arrangements ending Cyprus’ half-century divide would be “a waste of time.”
Fidan spoke to reporters after talks with Ersin Tatar, leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots whose declaration of independence in 1983 in Cyprus’ northern third is recognized only by Türkiye.
Cyprus’ ethnic division occurred in 1974 when Türkiye invaded in the wake of a coup, sponsored by the junta then ruling Greece, that aimed to unite the island in the eastern Mediterranean with the Greek state.
The most recent major push for a peace deal collapsed in 2017.
Since then, Türkiye has advocated for a two-state arrangement in which the numerically fewer Turkish Cypriots would never be the minority in any power-sharing arrangement.
But Greek Cypriots do not support a two-state deal that they see as formalizing the island’s partition and perpetuating what they see as a threat of a permanent Turkish military presence on the island.
Greek Cypriot officials have maintained that the 2017 talks collapsed primarily on Türkiye’s insistence on permanently keeping at least some of its estimated 35,000 troops currently in the island's breakaway north, and on enshrining military intervention rights in any new peace deal.
The UN the European Union and others have rejected a two-state deal for Cyprus, saying the only way forward is a federation agreement with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot zones.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is preparing to host an informal meeting in Switzerland in March to hear what each side envisions for a peace deal. Last year, an envoy Guterres dispatched to Cyprus reportedly concluded that there's no common ground for a return to talks.
The island’s Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides says he’s ready to resume formal talks immediately but has ruled out any discussion on a two-state arrangement.
Tatar, leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, said the meeting will bring together the two sides in Cyprus, the foreign ministers of “guarantor powers” Greece and Türkiye and a senior British official to chart “the next steps” regarding Cyprus’ future.
A peace deal would not only remove a source of instability in the eastern Mediterranean, but could also expedite the development of natural gas deposits inside Cyprus' offshore economic zone that Türkiye disputes.