Cyprus outlines plan for maritime corridor to get aid to Gaza

By John Irish

President Nikos Christodoulides outlined a proposal on Thursday to open a maritime corridor to help deliver more aid to Gaza, a plan which he said could be operational quickly but which diplomats said faced challenges.

Under the plan presented by Christodoulides at a humanitarian conference in Paris, aid would be sent by sea to Gaza from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, the closest European Union member state about 370 km away.

“We hope immediately to implement it,” he said of the 25-page proposal.

The plan is aimed at expanding capacity for humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip beyond limited deliveries being made through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian enclave since Israel began it air and ground offensive in Gaza.

Diplomats cautioned that the plan faced logistical, political, and also security challenges.

The deliveries through Rafah did not start until about two weeks into the offensive launched by Israel in response to a deadly Palestinian attack in southern Israel on October 7.

The process has been marred by diplomatic wrangling centred on Israeli demands over inspections, and distribution of the aid has been hampered by security concerns and a lack of fuel.

The construction of port infrastructure off Gaza started in 2016 but was later abandoned.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the Cypriot proposal.

Christodoulides said the operations centre would be based in Larnaca, where there is a port and airport, and where a coordination centre with 33 countries is already in place.

The port’s capacity would be 200,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid, enabling 2,000 tonnes of aid transfers per vessel.

Humanitarian aid would arrive in Cyprus and sent on vessels checked daily by a joint committee including Israel, he said.

Once loaded, convoys would be followed by warships to an area identified on the Gaza coast, from where it would be sent to a safe, neutral area.

“For the medium and long-term there are several steps to designate a port and adapted floating harbour,” Christodoulides said, adding that the European Commission, Greece, France, and the Netherlands were keen to get involved.

“We need to identify a zone in the south of Gaza to create the port infrastructure,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said. “If these conditions are fulfilled Greece would be ready to help with naval ships.”

On top of the Cypriot proposal, diplomats said France had also suggested taking the idea further and expanding the corridor to evacuate severely wounded people onto hospital ships in the Mediterranean off Gaza. An Israeli official said this week that these discussions were “still ongoing”.

The president travelled to Paris on Wednesday, accompanied by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Diplomatic Office Director Marilena Raouna and Political Director at the Foreign Ministry Thessalia Salina Shambos.

European Council President Charles Michel, for his part, commended Cyprus, Greece and France for their efforts in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“We are working to help alleviate the suffering. I especially commend France, Greece, Cyprus and some others for their concrete actions, such as a maritime hospital and a maritime corridor. And at the meeting in Paris tomorrow we will discuss and decide on more support,” the EU council president said.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, Michel also called for humanitarian pauses and corridors in Gaza, noting that a total siege is not in line with international law.

Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis earlier stated that the parameters of the Cypriot initiative had been drafted following contacts held by Christodoulides with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel, the President of the EU Commission and the US Secretary of State, as well as the foreign minister’s contacts with the Palestinian Authority, the Jordanian foreign minister, and other officials of neighbouring countries.

He said that the Cypriot government had briefed the governments of the US, EU member-states and other countries on the provisions of the Cypriot plan.