Cyprus: Larnaca may become hub for international aid to Gaza
Cypriot officials have said efforts to set up a maritime aid corridor from the port of Larnaca to the Gaza Strip are progressing. Israel has agreed to the plan, but technical issues still need to be resolved.
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00:00 This is the heart of a plan by the Cypriot government to send international aid to Gaza.
00:06 Larnaca port here is just under 400km away.
00:10 The Cypriot government says Israel will not oppose the plan,
00:13 as long as its officials can check what's loaded onto ships bound for Gaza.
00:18 Now we've proceeded from the political to the technical part of it.
00:24 So we've seen that they support politically the implementation, the realisation of the corridor.
00:30 And now we're at the part where technical issues are being resolved.
00:34 Getting the aid ships out to sea should be simple enough.
00:37 The biggest issue would be how to unload them in Gaza.
00:40 The port there has not been fully functional since Israel's blockade from 2007.
00:45 And Israel has bombed the area since the October 7th terror attack.
00:49 The Cypriot's plan could build a temporary floating port just off the coast.
00:54 They say this could dramatically speed up the delivery of aid.
00:57 One ship can carry 500 times what a truck can.
01:01 In Nicosia, the Cypriot Red Cross says it's in communication with the government
01:05 and can move aid like this quickly.
01:08 We are ready at any time and we have such warehouses smaller in all the districts.
01:15 So we're ready at any time, within the hour.
01:18 This command centre next to Larnaca airport coordinates between 21 countries
01:22 when it comes to evacuations from crisis zones.
01:25 It's been operational since 2016.
01:28 It's set to play a major role in the humanitarian aid corridor plans.
01:32 A certain precondition is to have a different security environment
01:36 to be able to proceed with the implementation of this idea.
01:41 But of course we are in contact parallelly to those preparations
01:46 with all stakeholders involved.
01:48 France, Greece and the Netherlands are all keen to get aid moving here quickly.
01:52 here quickly.