The sea corridor that Cyprus is proposing requires a complete ceasefire and inventive ways of offloading – Politico.
Last week, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos visited Israel with a team of experts to discuss the practicalities of the scheme.
Delivering humanitarian aid from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip poses serious logistical challenges and may require innovative solutions, such as the use of large landing craft on which containers can be loaded. However, the main challenges include the danger posed by the war and the fact that the port of Gaza is too narrow to berth large cargo ships.
Currently, the only way to deliver aid to the war-torn coastal enclave is by land from Egypt via Rafah, but diplomats are increasingly pushing for the use of ships because they can deliver 500 times more aid than lorries.
International humanitarian aid will thus be shipped and stored in Larnaca on the southern coast of Cyprus, which is only 210 nautical miles from the conflict zone.
This situation implies three scenarios for the safe delivery of aid to Gaza, given the lack of port facilities: short-term (immediate ceasefire), medium-term (floating platform) and long-term (the creation of a closed port).
In addition, Cyprus proposed another solution to the humanitarian situation: the delivery of aid through a port in Israel and subsequent delivery to the northern entry point into Gaza. Although this option is presently closed, as Israel refuses to allow aid to pass through its territory.
Such ideas may be released as the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the Gulf countries have asked Cyprus to help finance the project, while other countries such as Greece and the Netherlands have offered practical assistance.
Unless there is a structure on the ground for the receipt and effective distribution of the aid, there’s no point in flooding the place with more humanitarian aid at this juncture, Tzimitras says.
Currently, about 100 lorries a day pass through the Rafah checkpoint, while 400 are needed.
