Our View: Cyprus’ sea corridor to Gaza may be a pipe dream

President Nikos Christodoulides’ proposal for the creation of a sea corridor for the delivery of humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Israel has received a lot of coverage in the local media, which have hailed it as a very important and constructive initiative.

The president and his spokesmen have been building up expectations, although nothing has happened to suggest that the opening of such a corridor is something that will happen any time soon. There is a much more direct way to get humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah crossing, but levels are low compared to what is needed, because the flow of aid is restricted. A ‘corridor’ exists but it is not fully utilised, so currently, there is no need for another one.

On Tuesday, Chirstodoulides spoke about his contacts with foreign leaders, including Israel’s prime minister, to discuss “how we will execute the proposal we developed;” he also expressed the hope that the plan would soon be implemented. A day later, deputy government spokesman, Yiannis Antoniou, tried to put things in perspective, saying that details were being sorted out so that Cyprus would be ready “when the time comes.”

He cautioned that “this will be a big operation and one which needs to be co-ordinated in advance with international aid agencies.” More importantly, he admitted for the effort to be implemented Israel had to give its approval, which could require weeks or months. There was however a flurry of diplomatic activity behind the scenes regarding the president’s proposal for a humanitarian corridor, said the head of his press office, Victoras Papadpoulos on Thursday.

Is there really a flurry of diplomatic activity, or is the presidential palace generating a big fuss about something that might not happen? Why had the president made this proposal, when a corridor for aid already exists via Egypt through the Rafah crossing? Nobody asked Cyprus to create a corridor for humanitarian aid, but if such a need existed and Cyprus’ contribution was necessary, international aid agencies would have sought the government’s assistance. At present there have been no such requests.

When the government has been asked for help, as in the case of Cyprus being used as a transit country for foreign national fleeing Israel, it has provided it. It has also allowed the stationing of military in Cyprus from countries such as the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, in the event they are needed to evacuate their nationals from Israel. These are ways Cyprus has helped and such help is appreciated. The corridor for  humanitarian aid, on the other hand, is a much more complex matter, which is best left to big countries that have the resources and know-how to mount such operations.