Cyprus and France have launched a diplomatic marathon in their bid to secure the okay by all parties involved in Nicosia’s proposal to open a maritime corridor to help deliver more aid to Gaza.
This is what Philenews reported on Friday, adding that Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos was in Jerusalem late on Wednesday to discuss the issue with the Israeli government.
And President Nikos Christodoulides discussed it on the phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while – at the same time the President of Egypt and the French Defense Minister also focused on the humanitarian proposal.
Kombos and a group of technocrats travelled to Israel to discuss specific aspects of the Cypriot proposal, especially the part dealing with security issues of primary concern to Israel.
The positive position on the proposal taken by the Israeli President himself, Isaac Herzog, is also a vote of confidence in the Cypriot initiative.
In an interview with the British newspaper, the Financial Times, Herzog referred to the visit of Cypriot officials to Israel for further consultations on President Christodoulides’ initiative.
He also said : “(The Israeli government) is in serious negotiations with the Cypriot government…the situation in areas of Gaza is very bad, as they are ‘war zones’ but Israel is trying to allow more humanitarian aid to be delivered.”
At the same time, France’s Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu on Wednesday discussed in Cairo the initiative with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Local reports in Cairo said this is the first stop of Lecornoux’s tour of the region which also includes the Gulf countries and Israel.
And that the initiative has been put under the joint umbrella of the two countries – Cyprus and France.
The initiative involves the collection, inspection and storage of humanitarian aid in Cyprus, its subsequent transport by ship, probably from the port of Larnaca, and finally its unloading and distribution in Gaza.
