Israelis held in Cyprus over alleged rape

Ayia Napa is a popular tourist destination on Cyprus' eastern Mediterranean coast

Six Israeli citizens have been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of raping a British tourist, Israel's foreign ministry says.

A statement said the Israeli embassy had been informed and that its consul was in contact with local authorities.

The UK Foreign Office said it was supporting a British woman in Cyprus.

Cypriot media said a court had ordered the detention of five foreigners for eight days pending investigation of an alleged rape of a tourist in Ayia Napa.

There was no immediate confirmation from police in Cyprus, but Reuters news agency separately cited a police source as identifying the tourist as a British woman.

The woman had filed a complaint with police on Sunday evening which alleged that she was attacked at her hotel in Ayia Napa earlier that day, the source said.

The source said the five suspects who were later detained in connection with the alleged rape were Israeli men aged 19 and 20.

It was not clear why there was a discrepancy in the number of arrests.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office told the BBC: "We are supporting a British woman in Cyprus and are in contact with the local authorities."

The Times of Israel newspaper meanwhile quoted Israeli lawyer Nir Yaslovitz as telling Channel 12 TV: "According to the police in Cyprus, there is a serious suspicion, but unfortunately we have experience with such cases. I hope that the truth will come out."

In 2019, a British woman told police in Cyprus that she had been raped by 12 Israeli men and boys in Ayia Napa.

She later retracted the allegation after being held without a lawyer, and was then tried and convicted of causing public mischief.

Her conviction, which outraged women's rights campaigners, was overturned on appeal at the Supreme Court in Cyprus last year.