A handout picture provided by the Cypriot government's Press and Information Office (PIO) shows Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides (C-L) and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (C-R) inspecting the Larnaca Port, in Larnaca, Cyprus. (Credit: Andreas Loucaides/PIO/AFP)
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Friday that the planned maritime corridor to bring aid into Gaza “will take months to stand up” in its entirety, BBC reported. While he welcomed the US-led initiative, he called for aid to immediately be let into the Israeli port of Ashdod, north of the Gaza Strip.
“Ships could go today from Cyprus to Ashdod with aid,” Cameron told the BBC, adding that “Britain will play a part in the pre-screening” of aid in Cyprus, and “we can play a part if necessary in the provision of the aid and its delivery.”
Ashdod is a major Israeli port city located 38 kilometers north of Gaza. In mid-February, Reuters reported that a UN aid delivery from Turkey was prevented from docking there. The British diplomat urged Israel to open the port again to receiving aid deliveries, but unless a crossing opens in the north of the enclave, the aid would then need to travel south by truck to the Egyptian border in what aid groups have previously described as a long and arduous process passing several checkpoints and inspections.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Cyprus this week as part of the EU exploring the possibility of establishing a humanitarian corridor through the Mediterranean island. Leading up to her visit, a spokesperson said Von der Leyen would be visiting "infrastructure related to some phases of the plan," along with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
Reports of attempts to open the corridor first surface in early December, with very few reports of progress since. 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.
"We are now very close to opening this corridor, hopefully this Saturday-Sunday," Von der Leyen told journalists on Friday, cited by Reuters. "I'm very glad to see an initial pilot operation will be launched today," she said, referring to a shipment of food that was due to be dispatched by the charity World Central Kitchen from Cyprus, with support from the United Arab Emirates.
Officials did not specify how much aid will be delivered, nor did they detail the logistics of its distribution within Gaza. Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, which includes along its maritime border. It's not clear where the aid deliveries from Cyprus would dock.
Humanitarian groups have repeatedly stated that the delivery of aid via air or sea routes is inefficient and costly, insisting that the usage of land crossings is the most effective way.
Since the war began, Israel has only allowed for aid trucks to enter the besieged enclave through Rafah crossing, at Gaza's southern border with Egypt, and Kerem Shalom crossing, where Egyptian, Gazan and Israeli borders meet. There are a total of seven crossings along Gaza's border with Israel.
A joint US-Jordanian airdrop last week saw their militaries pushing aid packages into the sea, with Palestinians swimming or paddling out into the water to retrieve what they could of the delivery, as seen in a video report from Al Jazeera.
Five people were crushed to death on Friday when an airdrop delivery malfunctioned and the parachutes failed to open. The packages of supplies fell directly onto people gathered below, hoping to receive some desperately needed and severely limited supplies.
