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Israelis arrested over alleged gang rape of British woman in Cyprus

A 20-year-old woman was allegedly attacked at the weekend in Famagusta

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A Cyprus police van carrying an Azeri national suspected of taking part in an alleged plot to attack Israelis on the Meditterranean island is pictured outside the criminal court in the capital Nicosia, on December 6, 2021. - Six people will stand trial in Cyprus today for allegedly plotting to attack Israeli businesspeople on the Mediterranean island, police said. The case prompted Israel to accuse Iran of plotting "terror" attacks against its citizens in Cyprus. (Photo by Iakovos Hatzistavrou / AFP) (Photo by IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/AFP via Getty Images)

Five Israeli men have been arrested in Cyprus over the alleged gang rape of a 20-year-old British woman.

The tourist is said to have been attacked over the weekend at her hotel in Famagusta, in Northern Cyprus.

Following the alleged victim's description of her assailants, Cypriot police arrested three 19-year-old Israelis and two 20-year-olds.

All five suspects are set to appear in Famagusta district court on Monday.

The alleged attack follows a widely reported 2019 case in which an 18-year-old British woman reported that she had been gang raped by 12 Israeli men in the popular party town of Ayia Napa.

The alleged assailants, aged between 15 and 22, were arrested and questioned by police but subsequently released without charge and received a controversial welcome in Israel.

The victim, a university student from Derby, was then charged with making her story up after signing a statement retracting the allegations 10 days later which she alleged was the result of police pressure.

She was convicted of public mischief and received a four-month suspended sentence, meaning she spent five weeks in prison and almost six months unable to leave Cyprus.

In 2022, following widespread outrage, her conviction was overturned by the island's Supreme Court.

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