British ship awaits Israeli clearance for humanitarian aid ship to Gaza

In the waters off the coast of Gaza, a British vessel awaits clearance from Israeli shores to transport humanitarian aid from Larnaca to Gaza. The Presidential source does not exclude the possibility that the visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to Cyprus tomorrow is connected to both the approval of its docking and the commencement of the full implementation of the proposed humanitarian corridor by Nicosia. The same source reports increased international pressure on Israel to permit humanitarian aid to reach the civilian population of Gaza.

The Israeli Foreign Minister is scheduled to meet with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, accompanied by technical teams to discuss technical aspects related to the initiative for creating a maritime corridor, as announced by government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis on Tuesday. Letymbiotis stated that a technical team from Israel visited Cyprus last week, holding meetings and inspecting the facilities at Larnaca port, integral to the initiative's implementation. Tomorrow, Mr. Cohen will personally assess the facilities in the Republic of Cyprus. According to Petrides, there is political will on the part of the Israeli government to execute the Cypriot initiative, but technical issues remain pending final approval.

Additionally, he mentioned that as part of the Republic of Cyprus initiative, the Foreign Minister held telephone conversations yesterday with counterparts from the UK and France, discussing regional developments and the progress of the Cypriot initiative.

Primary focus on initial aid supplies

Regarding the aid transported by the British ship, it primarily includes tents, which arrived two weeks ago at the warehouses of Larnaca port as humanitarian aid from the United Kingdom. However, the government spokesperson emphasized that the humanitarian aid urgently needed by the civilian population, currently under blockade, is food and medical treatment.