European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday visited the Cypriot port of Larnaca, the starting point of the corridor, and said that the operation might start as early as this weekend.
Cyprus, which is the closest EU member to Israel and the Palestinian territories, first presented the idea of the sea corridor last year. In December, it was announced that a ship with aid had left for Gaza but eventually had to offload aid for Gaza in neighboring Egypt.
Christodoulides didn’t specify where the ship will anchor to unload the aid. The hope is that the supplies can help alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations says the population is suffering from “catastrophic hunger” after more than five months of conflict.
Analysts said that, even if this pilot run is successful, the sea corridor won’t become operational until a planned temporary dock is constructed by the U.S. The American military estimates that will take two months.
“This idea of the sea corridor has been brewing for months,” said Harry Tzimitras, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo Cyprus Center. “We had announcements before that the corridor is beginning, so we have to be always careful in this part of the world, until something actually starts.”
But “the U.S. construction is a serious step bringing in a coordinated action which was long overdue, but now at least is happening,” he added.
