A ship carrying aid to Gaza will leave Cyprus in the next 24 hours for a trial run along the new humanitarian sea corridor, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis announced late last night.
The ship, belonging to Spanish charity Open Arms, will carry food aid collected by US charity World Central Kitchen as the EU and its partners try to find a new way to get urgently needed aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.
"The ship will leave Larnaca in the next 24 hours. I cannot give a specific time for security reasons," Christodoulidis told reporters late on March 9.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited the Cypriot port of Larnaca, the starting point of the corridor, and said the operation could begin as early as this weekend.
The ship Open Arms "is ready to set sail loaded with tons of food, water and vital supplies for Palestinian civilians," the charity said in X. "What initially seemed like an insurmountable challenge is now about to come true."
Cyprus, which is the closest EU member to Israel and the Palestinian territories, first floated the maritime corridor idea last year. In December, it was announced that an aid ship had left for Gaza, but ended up having to unload the aid in neighboring Egypt.
Christodoulidis did not specify where the ship would dock to unload the aid. It is hoped the supplies could help ease the severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where the UN says the population is suffering from "catastrophic hunger" after more than five months of conflict.
Analysts say that even if this pilot test is successful, the sea corridor will not become operational until the US builds the planned temporary dock, which the US military estimates will take two months.
"This idea of the sea corridor has been in preparation for months," said Hari Tsimitras, director of the Cyprus Center of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo./BGNES
