Cyprus in balancing act over Gaza role

Cyprus attends Board of Peace as observer, weighs next steps

Not really in the club, but not really out either – that looks like Cyprus’ posture regarding its engagement with the Board of Peace, the confab of countries debuting in Washington DC this week. Nicosia is still weighing its options. At the same time, Cyprus does participate directly in the Civil-Military Coordination Centre for Gaza, over which serious questions hover as to its true purpose.

At Thursday’s inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace (BoP), Cyprus was represented by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, attending as an ‘observer’. In this, the island was not unique – 11 other EU member-states sent representatives as observers.

At this time, Cyprus is not a member of the BoP. But diplomatic sources do not rule out Cyprus joining at some future date. It’s a wait-and-see approach.

The same sources told us that Kombos’ participation as an observer in Washington applied to that meeting alone – it does not mean that Cyprus has observer status in general vis a vis the BoP.

“We have no institutional role,” they stressed.

Nicosia is wary of aspects of the BoP that may not be anchored in international law. For example, the sources said, there’s the issue of US President Donald Trump being the indefinite chairman of the board.

“What happens when he [Trump] leaves office? Will he remain as the chairman? And under what authority – international law?”

There’s also the issue of the $1 billion buy-in for permanent membership of the BoP – an entry fee that Cyprus probably couldn’t afford anyway.

The takeaway is that Nicosia has to tread carefully, checking all the boxes to ensure its actions are compatible with international law – from which it cannot be seen to veer.

So why did they take part in the inaugural meeting, sending there their chief diplomat no less?

“Because the meeting concerned Gaza specifically,” the sources told the Cyprus Mail.

“Meaning that it’s anchored to United Nations Security Council resolution 2803.”

Resolution 2803 was passed on November 17, 2025, giving effect to the Gaza peace plan agreed by Israel and Hamas in October 2025. The initial draft, which would give a two-year mandate to the International Stabilisation Force and set up a Board of Peace, was circulated by the United States on November 3, 2025.

Asked what Nicosia might do in future, say at the next meeting of the BoP, the sources said the government would assess its engagement on a “case-by-case basis”.

At any rate, they added, joining the BoP would be akin to an international treaty. So it would not be up to President Nikos Christodoulides; rather the government would need to go through parliament to ratify it.

Euripides Evriviades, a career diplomat and now ambassador ad honorem, told us:

“Cyprus’ decision to attend the inaugural meeting of the BoP at the level of foreign minister – and not head of state – as an observer is best understood as a calibrated form of engagement.

“Observer status does not confer membership, nor does it imply endorsement of the BoP’s full institutional design. It allows Cyprus to be present where decisions affecting Gaza’s future are discussed, without assuming responsibility for the BoP’s direction.”

Evriviades, senior fellow at the Cyprus Centre for European and International Affairs, noted that UNSC resolution 2803 remains the key legal anchor.

“It recognises the BoP as a transitional and temporary mechanism for Gaza reconstruction, with a mandate limited in time and geographic scope. Any evolution beyond that framework would raise serious questions of legitimacy and international law.”

For Cyprus, the ex-diplomat said, there’s also a practical dimension.

“Nicosia has invested in its role as a humanitarian and logistical hub for Gaza and aspires to contribute to reconstruction. In that context, absence from a UN-mandated forum addressing Gaza’s stabilisation and reconstruction would have been difficult to justify.”

But in his view, future steps regarding the BoP, including any possible move from observer to member, should be conditioned on three criteria: compatibility with international law and UN frameworks; respect for Cyprus’ and the EU’s treaty obligations; and genuine inclusion of Palestinian agency rather than governance about Palestinians without Palestinians.

Meantime Cyprus is participating in the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) for Gaza.

A recent report by Drop Site News indicated plans are afoot to set up what looks like a surveillance dystopia for the Palestinians of Gaza. The news outlet got hold of a leaked CMCC document, which appears authentic, showing designs for a “planned community” which would contain and control its residents through biometric surveillance, checkpoints, monitoring of purchases, and educational programs promoting normalisation with Israel.

A proposed residential zone, in Rafah, would be under full Israeli military control.

The CMCC was established by US Central Command (CENTCOM) on October 17, 2025. It’s based in a large warehouse-style building in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel and involves dozens of countries and organisations. The centre is supposed to “monitor implementation of the ceasefire” and “help facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical, and security assistance from international counterparts into Gaza”.

We queried both the defence and foreign ministries, asking for details on Cyprus’ role in the CMCC.

After repeated prodding, the defence ministry answered (most of) our questions.

The Cyprus defence ministry/army general staff has participated in the CMCC since November 2025. It currently has one officer posted there. He has the rank of colonel. He serves as a National Liaison Officer, under the defence ministry, and is being monitored by Cyprus’ diplomatic mission to Israel.

Despite being asked, the ministry did not specify the officer’s role or functions.

On whether Cyprus solicited participation in the CMCC, or was invited, the defence ministry said that in October 2025 “the chief of the US armed forces” extended an invitation to the head of the Cyprus National Guard.

“Following approval from the political leadership of the Republic of Cyprus, the defence ministry participated in the CMCC.”

Responding to another question, the ministry stated that Cyprus’ participation is “being evaluated on an ongoing basis, according to developments and the benefit it confers to the Republic”.

At this time, Cyprus does not intend to send additional personnel to the CMCC.

For its part, the foreign ministry – which we alerted to the report by Drop Site News – gave us a generic answer.

Theodoros Gotsis, spokesperson for the ministry, said in an email: 

“Cyprus is actively supporting the stabilisation and peace efforts in Gaza, particularly at the humanitarian, security and reconstruction fields, in line with UNSC Resolution 2803.

“In this context, Cyprus participates with diplomatic and military liaisons at the CMCC which is facilitating the political and operational coordination between more than 100 international and regional partners, including UN agencies (OCHA, UNOPS, WHO), other EU Member States and relevant organisations and agencies”.

The Cyprus Mail also shared the Drop Site News report with Evriviades. He had this to say:

“Regarding the CMCC and the leaked document, if the reporting is accurate, the plans described raise serious concerns.

A ‘planned community’ in Rafah under tight military control, involving biometric surveillance, checkpoints and behavioural ‘normalisation’ programmes, risks moving from temporary stabilisation to a model of structured, long-term control over a civilian population. Such an approach would sit uneasily with the principles of proportionality, rule of law and human dignity that underpin international humanitarian and human rights law.”

The expert said that Cyprus’ participation in the CMCC has been presented as part of its humanitarian role – facilitating aid flows and stabilisation efforts.

“That is a legitimate contribution. However, participation in coordination mechanisms must not slide into the institutionalisation of pervasive surveillance or coercive social engineering. Any reconstruction model that resembles a modern-day panopticon – a system of permanent, centralised monitoring of a civilian population – would raise profound concerns under international humanitarian and human rights law.”

Summing it up, Evriviades opined that Cyprus cannot afford to be absent from discussions on Gaza’s reconstruction.

But he added: “In both the BoP and the CMCC, the guiding compass should remain clear: law over force, inclusion over imposed control, and temporary arrangements that lead toward a just and sustainable peace, including the creation of a Palestinian state.”