Cyprus, located some 370 km (230 miles) northwest of Gaza, is the closest European Union member state to the region. It has campaigned for months for the creation of a sustained, one-way sea route carrying aid directly to the enclave.
Updated 10:45 AM PST, November 20, 2023
Cyprus’ president says his country is ready to ship aid to Gaza once a go-ahead is given
- President Nikos Christodoulides said his country’s proposal for a maritime corridor from the Cyprus’ port of Larnaca to Gaza is the “only one currently being discussed on an international level” as a feasible way to significantly supplement the trickle of aid getting into the enclave through Egypt’s Rafah border checkpoint.
- Planning for the corridor of about 230 miles (370 kilometers) is essentially completed, and aid can begin to flow when a pause in fighting is declared, Christodoulides said.
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The Cypriot leader, who has been in regular contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the proposal, said that getting a green light to start the shipments is a complicated matter requiring intricate negotiations in light of the ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza.
- “Everyone supports this initiative, the European Union, the United States,” Christodoulides told The Associated Press in an interview.
- “When we say that we’re a bridge to the region, we’re showing this in practice.
- It’s every important for our country.”
- More significant is that Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat said his country was “definitely in favor of the project.”
- “We are exploring it with all the relevant ministries and agencies in Israel,” Haiat said without indicating when the corridor from Cyprus might open.
Israel put Gaza under siege and declared war on the Hamas militants who rule the Palestinian enclave after the group carried out a surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing hundreds of people and taking 240 hostages. Aid organizations say civilians don’t have enough food or clean water, and hospitals in Gaza report being out of even basic medical supplies.
In the immediate term, shallow-draft vessels will be used to ferry the aid and Cyprus is in contact with Gulf countries that can dispatch such ships, Christodoulides said.
- In the medium term, planning foresees the construction of a floating dock off Gaza where all types of ships can offload assistance.
- For the long-term, the idea is to construct a Gaza port, he said.
According to Christodoulides, a side benefit to using the port of Larnaca to load cargo is
- its ample facilities to store the aid and because of its very close proximity to the island’s main airport
- as well as a U.S.-funded facility built to train personnel from Cyprus and neighboring countries on port and maritime security.
Medicine, food, clothing and other essentials collected and stored at the port will flow to Gaza continuously, but it would be a one-way aid corridor, meaning that no Palestinians would be permitted to use the ships to leave the enclave, he said.
Aid reaching Gaza would be distributed by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees using its established network, Christodoulides said.
The ship will pull a barge loaded with 200 tons of rice and flour close to the Gaza shore, he said. Pontoon boats will then be used for the complicated final leg to tow the barge up to the pier.
Camps said his group has been planning the delivery for two months, long before the EU Commission chief declared the launch of the safe corridor.
He said he’s not as concerned about the security of the ship as “about the security and lives of the people who are in Gaza.”
“I don’t know if nations plan to do something bigger, but we are doing everything we can” with the group’s 3 million euros budget from private donations, Camps said.
In Brussels, commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari said the Open Arms ship’s direct route to Gaza raises a number of “logistical problems” which are still being worked out.
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union and partners including the US are set to launch a maritime aid corridor to Gaza as soon as this weekend — a means to get urgent aid to desperate civilians caught in the Israel-Hamas war.
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- The efforts — including security checks — will be co-ordinated with Israel, which controls all but one of Gaza’s land borders as well as its territorial waters and airspace, according to a statement.
- The EU and the US will also work with the UK and United Arab Emirates.
The move is seen as a way to top up the limited volumes of aid entering Gaza via the land border with Egypt after five months of war, which have seen Israel relentlessly bombard the enclave of 2 million people in pursuit of Hamas militants and infrastructure. The US last week started airdrops of food, though that’s not seen as enough to arrest an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.
“We are here because Palestinians, and in particular those in Gaza, need all our help,” von der Leyen said in a statement. “We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe.”
The EU is increasingly frustrated about the blocking of aid flows to the enclave, though the bloc remains split over its approach to Israel and its military campaign. EU leaders will address the Middle East crisis when they hold a summit in Brussels later this month, but it’s unclear whether they will be able to agree on a joint statement calling for a humanitarian pause or a cease-fire.
US President Joe Biden said Thursday that he has ordered the military to create a temporary port on the Gaza coast, and used his State of the Union speech to call on Israel to let in more aid. However, US officials said it could take weeks to build the facility.
The focus on delivering assistance comes as attempts to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas — temporary or otherwise — have failed with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan fast approaching. Negotiations involving Israel, the US, Egypt and Qatar have led to a proposed six-week halt to fighting and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return for dozens of Israeli hostages, though Hamas is demanding a full withdrawal of Israel forces from Gaza.
Read More: Hopes Fade of Gaza Cease-Fire Before Ramadan After Failed Talks
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--With assistance from Georgios Georgiou, Thomas Hall, Gwen Ackerman and Paul Tugwell.
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