Cyprus President: We are ready to send aid to Gaza, we plan to build a port

(Patria) - Cyprus is ready to "immediately" begin sending large quantities of humanitarian aid to Gaza on vessels that can navigate shallow waters once conditions on the ground allow, the president of the island nation in the eastern Mediterranean said, AP reported.

President Nikos Christodoulides said his country's proposal for a maritime corridor from the Cypriot port of Larnaca to Gaza is "the only one currently being discussed internationally" as a feasible way to boost the flow of aid reaching the enclave via Egypt and the Rafah border crossing.

Planning for the roughly 370-kilometer corridor is essentially complete, and aid can begin arriving once a pause in fighting is declared, Christodoulides said.

The Cypriot leader, who has been in regular contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the proposal, said getting the green light to start deliveries is complicated because it requires negotiations in light of ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza.

"Everyone supports this initiative, the European Union, the United States," Christodoulides said.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat said his country is "definitely in favor of the project."

"We are exploring this with all relevant ministries and agencies in Israel," Haiat said without specifying when the corridor from Cyprus could open.

Shallow-draft vessels will be used to transport aid, and Cyprus is in contact with Gulf countries that can supply such ships, Christodoulides said.

"What do we want? We want everything to be in place, so when the situation on the ground allows, we can start," he said. In the medium term, planning envisions the construction of a floating dock off Gaza where all types of ships can unload aid. In the long term, the idea is to build a port in Gaza, Christodoulides said.