The president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, announced this Friday that The maritime corridor with international aid for the Gaza Strip will begin operating this Saturday or Sundayalthough there will be a first pilot trip leaving Cyprus this Friday.
“We are very close to the opening of the corridor, hopefully this Saturday, this Sunday, and I am very happy to see that today a first pilot operation will be launched,” said the community leader in a statement to the press in Larnaca (Cyprus). together with the Cypriot president, Nikos Jristodoulidis.
Von der Leyen underlined the determination and efforts of the European Union (EU) as well as other countries, such as the United Arab Emirates and the United States, to bring humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza after five months of war.
The President of the Commission visited, together with Jristodoulidis, the ZENON multipurpose coordination center in the port city of Larnaca, starting point of the maritime corridor with aid for the Stripattacked by Israel since the terrorist offensive of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7.
“Today we face a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” said Von der Leyen, who explained that The EU allocates 250 million euros in aid to the Palestinian population.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, with innocent Palestinian families and children desperate for basic needs.
“The key challenge is getting aid to the people in Gaza. “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, with innocent Palestinian families and children desperate for basic needs,” the Commission president added.
Last October, the Cypriot government had already proposed to Israel and Egypt a plan to send humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea from Cyprus, located 379 kilometers from Gaza.
In recent months, technical teams from Israel traveled to Cyprus, where they held several meetings with local specialists and analyzed the infrastructure necessary to launch the initiative called “Amalthia.”
The United Kingdom announced today that it will join the US and other allies in the creation of the maritime corridor in order to transport aid directly to Gaza, said British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
In a message posted on his X account he noted that “the people of Gaza desperately need humanitarian aid” after US President Joe Biden previously announced that he has ordered his country's Army to build a temporary port to facilitate the entry humanitarian aid for the Strip.
People in Gaza are in desperate humanitarian need.
Alongside the US, the UK and partners have announced we will open a maritime corridor to deliver aid directly to Gaza.
We continue to urge Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza as the fastest way to get aid to those who need…
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) March 8, 2024
Along with Von der Leyen's announcement, the European Commission, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement in which They urge Israel to allow more aid to be sent by land to Gaza.
The text indicates that the countries of the initiative “will insist on Israel to facilitate more routes and open additional crossings to deliver more aid to more people” in the Strip.
“Delivering humanitarian aid directly to Gaza by sea will be complex, and our nations will continue to evaluate and adjust our efforts to ensure we deliver aid as effectively as possible,” the text adds.
This maritime corridor can – and should – be part of a sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid
“This maritime corridor can – and must – be part of a sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial products to Gaza through all possible routes,” point out the countries promoting the corridor.
“The protection of civilian life is a key element of international humanitarian law that must be respected. “Together we must do more to ensure that help reaches the people who desperately need it,” the statement concludes.
Israel celebrates the opening of the corridor
For its part, Israel this Friday “welcomed” the news of the joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the United States.
“The Cypriot initiative will allow increased humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, after security checks are carried out in accordance with Israeli standards”said Lior Haiat, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, a country that keeps land access roads to the enclave closed.
At this time, Israel allows, after exhaustive controls, the entry of humanitarian aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which connects the enclave and Israel, with an average of about 250 trucks a day in the last week – before they were around one hundred -, a insufficient quantity for the pressing needs of the Strip.
“Israel will continue to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid to residents of the Gaza Strip in accordance with the rules of war and in coordination with the United States and our allies around the world,” the ministry stated.
EFE
#Maritime #aid #corridor #Gaza #weekend #Von #der #Leyen