2012 Cyprus terrorist plot
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| Location | Limassol and Larnaka, Cyprus |
|---|---|
| Type | Terrorism |
| Target | Israeli interests in Cyprus |
| Outcome | Suspect arrested before committing the attack |
| Arrests | 1 |
| Suspects | 1 |
| Accused | Hossam Yaakoub (Hezbollah) |
| Convicted | Yes |
| Verdict | Guilty |
| Sentence | 4 years in prison |
On July 7, 2012, local authorities arrested Lebanese-born Swedish citizen Hossam Yaakoub in Limassol, Cyprus. Yaakoub admitted to being a member of the Shi'a Islamic militant group Hezbollah, who had been tasked with surveilling the activities of Israeli tourists on the island. Israel condemned the incident as an attempted terrorist attack.
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, and Kenya.[1] On July 18, eleven days after Yaakoub was arrested, five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian citizen were killed in a suicide bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government implicated Hezbollah in the attack.[2]
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 Hezbollah.[3]
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.[3] On July 6, he surveilled the arrival of Israeli tourists on an Arkia Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Larnaca International Airport. 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 services. 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."[2]
Information provided by Israeli intelligence to Cyprus that Yaakoub intended to carry out attacks led to his arrest.[3] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the incident as an "attempted terrorist attack by Hezbollah against an Israeli target... conducted under Iran's auspices."[4]
