Enlarge image
Coast without port: Palestinians wash clothes with salt water on the beach of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip
Photo: Haitham Imad / EPA
Israel says it is ready to "immediately" open a proposed aid corridor with ships from Cyprus to the war-torn Gaza Strip. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said this on Sunday, naming four European states as possible contributors to the solution.
According to the model, first proposed by the Cypriot government in November, the cargo would pass through security checks at the port of Larnaca and from there be shipped about 370 kilometers across the eastern Mediterranean to the coast of Gaza, instead of coming directly from neighboring Egypt or Israel.
If implemented, the plan would be the first easing of Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after the militant Islamist group Hamas seized control of Palestinian territory.
Withdrawal from responsibility
From Israel's perspective, the corridor is intended to be a means of freeing itself from responsibility for the civilian supply of the area. For 7 weeks, the state has been waging war in retaliation for a terrorist attack by Palestinian gunmen led by Hamas, who crossed the border with Israel on October 1200, killing more than 240,<> people and taking some <> hostages.
More than 20,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of just over two million, have been killed in the fierce Israeli attacks, according to the local health authority, and several hundred thousand more have been displaced within the small area. The population lacks resources for basic needs such as food, water and electricity, and health care has collapsed in large parts and diseases are spreading. On 22 December, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for the expansion of humanitarian aid opportunities.
"It won't go through Israel"
With the pier, the demand could be at least partially met. "It can begin right away," Secretary of State Eli Cohen told Tel Aviv's 103 FM radio station. He cited Britain, France, Greece and the Netherlands as countries with watercraft that could land directly on the coast of Gaza, which does not have a deep-sea port. Direct delivery to Gaza instead of the easy route via an Israeli port seemed to be a condition for Cohen.
"They have asked us for the material to come via Ashdod," the minister said, referring to the port city located between Tel Aviv and Gaza. "The answer is no. It will not run through Israel. We want to retreat, with security control. That's the goal of this process."
No confirmation in the West yet
The Dutch Ministry of Defense said it had not yet received a request for comment on the plan. "One of our ships is in the region and we are ready to start at short notice," said ministry spokesman Laurens Bos. "But that's not the case for the time being."
Initially, there was no further comment from London, Paris or Athens. Britain and Greece had previously declared their support for the Cypriot initiative. A senior Cypriot official told Reuters that Britain offered to deploy flat-bottomed boats that could enter Gaza. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also backed the plan, according to which Israeli security officials would also take part in inspections at the port of Larnaca.
Mediator with Arab states
"As of today, there is a naval blockade, and if a ship comes from Larnaca, it will be with our approval," Cohen said. "It will, of course, be a secure corridor, as we have no intention of endangering a British or French ship approaching in coordination with us."
Eli Cohen is about to move from the State Department to the Department of Energy. On Sunday, the Cabinet approved a rotation under which Cohen and Energy Secretary Katz would swap posts. Both belong to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national-conservative Likud party. The swap had already been agreed in the coalition agreement of the right-wing religious government in 2022, but still has to be confirmed by parliament. Former Secretary of Intelligence Cohen has played an important role in Israel's reconciliation with Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates or Morocco since 2020.
Several European and Arab states are sending aid to Gaza via the Egyptian coastal city of Aarish. There, too, Israel is involved in monitoring the deliveries, which, according to some aid organizations, delays aid. Cairo, for its part, strictly controls border traffic with Gaza and excludes any admission of Palestinian refugees. On Saturday, Israel signaled that it wanted to take control of the border between Gaza and Egypt itself – under sharp criticism from the Palestinian side.
ahh/Reuters/AFP