On July 7, 2012, local authorities arrested Lebanese-born Swedish citizen Hossam Yaakoub in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. Yaakoub admitted to being a member of the

Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...

Islamic militant group

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

, who had been tasked with surveilling the activities of Israeli tourists on the island. Israel condemned the incident as an attempted terrorist attack.

Background

In the months preceding the disruption of the terrorist plot in Cyprus, Hezbollah and Iran were implicated in terrorist attacks and plots against Israeli targets in Thailand, India, Georgia,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. On July 18, eleven days after Yaakoub was arrested, five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian citizen were killed in a

suicide bombing A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. The Bulgarian government implicated Hezbollah in the attack.

Arrest

On July 7, 2012, Cypriot authorities arrested Hossam Yaakoub, a Lebanese-born Swedish citizen, in the port city of Limassol. After intensive questioning, Yaakoub admitted that he was a member of

. Yaakoub had arrived in Cyprus as a tourist on July 5. Prior to his arrest, he was tracking the movement of Israeli tourists on the island. On July 6, he surveilled the arrival of Israeli tourists on an Arkia Airlines flight from

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Larnaca International Airport Larnaca International Airport – Glafcos Clerides is an international airport located southwest of Larnaca, Cyprus. Larnaca International Airport is Cyprus' main international airport and the larger of the two commercial airports in the area ...

. Hezbollah had tasked Yaakoub with monitoring charter flights from Israel to Cyprus since late 2011. He recorded flight information and wrote down the registration numbers of shuttle buses the passengers boarded. In between flights, he carried out surveillance of the resort hotels that Israelis frequented. His surveillance data noted the security presence at the hotels and their proximity to local

emergency service Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety, security, and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while oth ...

s. He also photographed hotel entrances and parking lots. In a sworn deposition, Yaakoub told police, "I was just collecting information about the Jews. This is what my organization is doing, everywhere in the world." Information provided by Israeli intelligence to Cyprus that Yaakoub intended to carry out attacks led to his arrest. Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

condemned the incident as an "attempted terrorist attack by Hezbollah against an Israeli target... conducted under Iran's auspices."

Trial

On March 21, 2013, a three-judge panel in Cyprus convicted Yaakoub on five of eight charges, "including participation in a criminal organization, planning to commit a crime and money laundering." On March 28, the court sentenced Yaakoub to four years in prison. During the sentencing, the judges stated, "There is no doubt these are serious crimes which could have potentially endangered Israeli citizens and targets in the republic." The conviction of Yaakoub, in tandem with the Bulgarian government's declaration that Hezbollah was behind the July 2012 Burgas bus bombing, has increased the pressure on the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that the conviction of the Hezbollah operative in Cyprus "underscores the need for our European allies — and other governments around the world — to crack down on this deadly group."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyprus terrorist plot 2012 in international relations 2012 crimes in Cyprus July 2012 crimes in Asia July 2012 in Europe Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2012 Terrorist incidents in Europe in 2012 Terrorist incidents in Cyprus Islamic terrorism in Cyprus Islamic terrorist incidents in 2012 Cyprus–Iran relations Cyprus–Israel relations Iran–Israel proxy conflict Hezbollah attacks Failed terrorist attempts in Asia Failed terrorist attempts in Europe Trials in Asia Trials in Europe 2010s trials Attacks on tourists in Asia Attacks on tourists in Europe Anti-Israeli sentiment in Europe

Background

Arrest

Trial

See also

References