Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit Cyprus on October 29, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Talks are expected to cover bilateral relations, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and developments in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The visit was first reported by the Palestinian ambassador to Cyprus, Abdallah Attari, in an interview with Phileleftheros.

The trip comes as the government faces criticism over its increasing support for Israeli interests in Cyprus.

Akel has attacked the creation of a Cyprus chapter of the Israel Allies Foundation by six MPs from Disy, Diko and Elam, which the party has said undermines the credibility of Cyprus in its efforts to press Turkey internationally on its ongoing occupation.

Cyprus and the Palestinians drew close in the 1960s and 1970s, when Archbishop Makarios steered the island away from its expected trajectory towards NATO and instead into the Non-Aligned Movement alongside Egypt and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

In September 1985 three gunmen from the PLO unit Force 17 killed an Israeli couple, Reuven and Esther Paltsur, and their friend Avraham Avneri aboard a yacht in Larnaca marina.

President Spyros Kyprianou condemned the killings and urged both sides to keep their conflict off Cyprus.

Cyprus rejected an Israeli extradition request and tried the three men itself, and Israel bombed the PLO headquarters in Tunis days later.

In February 1988 the PLO bought the Cypriot ferry Sol Phryne at auction in Limassol, renamed it Al Awda, “the Return”, and planned to carry 135 Palestinian deportees to Haifa.

Three PLO officials were killed by a car bomb in Limassol that weekend, and a limpet mine crippled the ship within days.

Cyprus recognised the State of Palestine immediately after its declaration in 1988.

A Cypriot representative office opened in Ramallah in 2009, and after the UN General Assembly vote of 2012, was upgraded to a full embassy, among the first in the EU to do so.

When Abbas visited in June 2022, then President Nicos Anastasiades pledged that close ties with Israel “would not be to the detriment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians”.

President Nikos Christodoulides visited Ramallah in 2023 and laid a wreath at Yasser Arafat’s tomb, and in March 2024 the first aid ship for Gaza left a Cypriot port.

Israel once declared Androulla Vassiliou, wife of former president George Vassiliou, persona non grata after a delegation she led tried to meet Arafat, who was confined to his compound in Ramallah.

Abbas, has led the Palestinian Authority since 2005, with his Fatah-dominated authority governing parts of the West Bank, while Hamas ran the Gaza strip.

Many Palestinians regard the authority as corrupt and criticise its security cooperation with Israel.

President Nikos Christodoulides received a delegation from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) at the presidential palace on Wednesday, with both sides pledging to strengthen relations between Cyprus, the United States and Israel.

The delegation was led by outgoing Aipac president Dr Bernard Kaminetsky and president-elect Yehuda Neuberger, who stressed that Aipac would continue to back Cyprus’ interests in Washington.

Talks reportedly covered the Cyprus issue and efforts to accelerate the “3+1” mechanism, which brings together Cyprus, Greece and Israel with the United States.

Members also attended a Nicosia ceremony honouring Jewish refugees and the children born between 1946 and 1949 at the former British military hospital.

Six MPs recently launched a Cyprus chapter of the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF), those being Andreas Apostolou and Chrysis Pantelides of Diko, George Karoullas and Charalambos Petrides of Disy, and Sotiris Ioannou and Marios Pelekanos of Elam.

A Cyprus chapter of Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) had likewise been set up two weeks earlier with MPs from the same parties.

Akel called the move “extremely provocative” and accused the three parties of turning parliament into a lobby for Israel.

Aipac is an American pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates policies strengthening the US-Israel relationship.

It was founded in 1954 as the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs by Isaiah L Kenen, a lobbyist for the Israeli government.

It is considered one of the most influential lobbying groups in the United States and reports more than five million members and 17 regional offices.

Critics have condemned Aipac as being an agent of the Israeli government and does not represent the diversity of views among American Jews.

Israel Shipyards and Rafael are reportedly close to securing a €150 million agreement to supply Cyprus with naval vessels and weapons systems, in what would mark another significant step in the expanding defence relationship between Nicosia and Tel Aviv.

According to a report published on Tuesday by Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist, the agreement is expected to be signed in the coming weeks, following discussions between the defence ministries of the two countries. 

The proposed deal would see Israel Shipyards supply vessels to the National Guard’s naval command, equipped with weapons systems manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

The agreement is reportedly being negotiated on a government-to-government basis, although neither the Cypriot nor the Israeli defence ministry has publicly confirmed the reported procurement .

Defence ministry sources however confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that an agreement is in place for the purchase of a patrol vessel from Israel, noting that it is well known that defence cooperation between the two countries is well established.

Calcalist said the two Israeli companies also declined to comment and the report did not specify the number or type of vessels involved, their intended armament or the expected delivery schedule.

The reported agreement would build on an existing relationship between Cyprus and Israel Shipyards, which previously supplied the Republic with its first patrol vessel.

As the Cyprus Mail reported in September 2017, then defence minister Christophoros Fokaides attended the vessel’s launch ceremony in Haifa, where he also held talks with his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, on expanding military cooperation.

The vessel arrived in Cyprus in January 2018 and was commissioned later that month.

Measuring 62 metres in length, the patrol vessel was acquired at a reported cost of approximately €44 million and was intended to strengthen Cyprus’ ability to patrol its exclusive economic zone, protect offshore energy infrastructure and contribute to regional maritime security. The vessel is equipped with radar, command-and-control equipment and two Rafael Typhoon naval weapon stations.

The latest development comes amid growing military cooperation between Cyprus and Israel, particularly in air defence, surveillance and the protection of critical infrastructure.

One of the most visible examples was the appearance of the Israeli-made BARAK MX air defence system during Cyprus’ October 1 independence parade in Nicosia.

Israel has already emerged as a significant supplier of military equipment to Cyprus since beyond the BARAK MX air defence system, the National Guard operates Rafael’s SPIKE LR2 anti-tank missiles, while Israeli-made Tavor assault rifles are used by its commandos.

Meanwhile the Israeli embassy in Nicosia has previously told the Cyprus Mail that Israel sees Cyprus as an increasingly important defence partner and believes there is clear potential for the two countries to deepen cooperation between their defence industries, including through joint projects and technology.

Describing the relationship as one based on “mutual trust, shared interests and a commitment to regional stability”, the embassy said Cyprus’ importance as a trusted partner had grown as defence cooperation deepened.

Akel asked House president Annita Demetriou on Monday to explain how a parliamentary hall came to host the launch of a cross-party group of MPs working with the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF).

In a letter, Akel parliamentary spokesman Giorgos Loukaides asked who requested the Pentadaktylos conference room, who approved its use and on what grounds.

He also questioned “who paid for the event and what commitments the MPs have taken on”.

The letter calls the formation of such a group inside parliament as “unprecedented”, with Loukaides proposing that the House institutions committee examine whether the code of conduct covers MPs joining networks that “promote the interests of third countries”.

He wants the issue on the agenda of the next meeting of party leaders and a clear framework for similar groups, “covering disclosure of funding and use of parliamentary resources”.

The letter says the event last Wednesday sits “uneasily” with a decision at a leaders’ meeting, where parties reaffirmed that House premises are solely for parliamentary or party activity.

A similar row has likewise emerged in Greece, as opposition parties have demanded an explanation over a reported meeting in Athens between Greek politicians and an IAF delegation.

A request by Direct Democracy to host an event on its “truth commission” initiative in parliament was withdrawn after that discussion and moved to the House of the Citizen near parliament.

Six MPs founded group

Six MPs announced the IAF group last week and later met President Nikos Christodoulides, those being Andreas Apostolou and Chrysis Pantelides of Diko, George Karoullas and Charalambos Petrides of Disy, as well as Sotiris Ioannou and Marios Pelekanos of Elam.

It followed a Cyprus chapter of Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI), launched two weeks earlier with MPs from the same parties.

Akel’s letter also raises the foundation’s political aims, as the IAF itself campaigns for an undivided Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which “conflicts with UN Security Council Resolution 478”.

The letter points to European Parliament rules barring certain informal groups on third countries from using its facilities.

Akel first lambasted the move last Thursday, calling it “extremely provocative” and accusing the three parties of turning the House into a “lobby for Israel”.

It also decried the government, citing ministers’ attendance and the president’s reception of the foundation’s leaders.

Disy responded by asking whether Akel wanted to be “on the same side as Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Turkey”, asserting that establishing closer ties with Israel was “a strategic choice”.

Pantelides, who heads the Cyprus chapter, has assured that members pay their own costs and receive no money from the foundation.

He said he paid for the launch dinner and coffees, and that any funded trips would be fully disclosed.

He said cooperation with Israel had brought “significant help in defence” and security equipment.

The foundation, set up in 2007 by Rabbi Benny Elon, has groups in 68 parliaments, including 25 EU states.