THE European Union is backing a long-awaited maritime corridor allowing aid to be shipped from Cyprus to the coast of Gaza, Euro News reported.
European Commission Ursula von der Leyen confirmed this during a visit to the port of Larnaca on Friday.
The Cyprus-led initiative, named ‘Amalthea’, is backed by Western and Arab partners including the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
It will allow a surge in humanitarian aid deliveries, which have been severely constricted by the land routes controlled by Israel since the outbreak of the war. It comes as leaders warn of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where parts of the population are facing starvation.
Speaking in Larnaca, on the south coast of Cyprus, von der Leyen said that the EU executive could also consider further options, including the parachuting of humanitarian cargo into Gaza, following the US’s lead. The bloc has already pledged €250 million in aid to Palestinians this year.
“The maritime corridor can make a real difference to the plight of the Palestinian people, but in parallel, our efforts to provide humanitarian assistance through all possible routes will continue,” the Commission president said in a joint press conference with Cyprus’ president Nikos Christodoulides.
The sea corridor is due to formally open this weekend, with a first pilot operation to leave either on Saturday or Sunday, when the right conditions are in place. That pilot will be part of a partnership with US-based charity World Central Kitchen, founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, which provides food to crisis-ridden populations, von der Leyen said.
It comes just hours after President Biden confirmed in his annual State of the Union speech that the US military would lead an “emergency mission” to establish a “temporary pier” on the Gaza coast to ramp up the delivery of life-saving aid.
Biden said there would be “no US boots on the ground” as part of the construction of the port, but it does represent a crucial shift in his administration’s intervention in the Gaza crisis.
The port could be operational in three weeks’ time, Cypriot sources say.
