By Al-Fassel | 2024-03-26

As donor countries and aid organizations multiply their efforts to get relief into Gaza by air and sea, work is now focusing on synchronizing their actions.

To this end, Cyprus hosted a March 21 meeting that brought representatives of 36 countries, United Nations agencies and humanitarian groups to the port of Larnaca.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said the aim was to send "as many boats as possible" carrying aid to Gaza, "utilizing and leveraging... our geographical position in the area."

The meeting in Cyprus sought to secure funding for the maritime aid corridor and examining "how we can max up our operational capacity," he said.

Israeli officials also attended the meeting, which "is about integrating all the states and entities that are participating in order to have a synchronized pace for our actions," Kombos said.

The European Union will contribute "around €70 million" ($75.8 million) as a first installment to the aid corridor fund, President Nikos Christodoulides said, also noting a promised €10 million ($10.8 million) from the Netherlands.

A first aid vessel, Open Arms, arrived in Gaza on March 15 with 200 tons of humanitarian aid, with a second vessel, the Jennifer, preparing to depart from Larnaca after it, subject to weather conditions, AFP reported.

The voyage to Gaza from Cyprus takes roughly three days.

The cargo on the Jennifer includes "pallets of canned goods and bulk product -- including beans, carrots, canned tuna, chickpeas, canned corn, parboiled rice, flour, oil and salt," said US charity World Central Kitchen.

It also includes a forklift and a crane to assist with deliveries, the charity said, adding that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sent 120kg of fresh dates.

Other humanitarian corridors

World Central Kitchen, which partnered with the Spanish charity Open Arms in the first sea delivery, built a makeshift jetty southwest of Gaza City to receive the shipment, and the US military plans to build a larger pier.

The United States is working hard to prepare a landing jetty to receive humanitarian aid, a senior US official said March 21, noting it could be ready before May 1, Reuters reported.

"They are working very hard to advance that and hopefully we can see it operational a bit earlier than that," Chief of Staff of the National Security Council Curtis Ried said on the sidelines of the meeting in Cyprus.

In remarks delivered March 21 in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the temporary pier as an additional channel for aid.

"As we've said before and I want to emphasize, this maritime corridor, this pier, is a complement to, not a substitute for, other means of getting assistance to people who need it," Blinken said.

Land crossings in particular "are the most critical means of getting aid to those in need," he said.

On March 24, the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted their 16th combined humanitarian assistance air drop into northern Gaza.

A US Air Force C-130 aircraft dropped 13,080 Jordanian-provided meal equivalents, including rice, flour, milk, pasta and canned foods, CENTCOM said.

The airdrops "contribute to ongoing US and partner-nation government efforts to alleviate human suffering," it said. "These airdrops are part of a sustained effort, and we continue to plan follow-on aerial deliveries."