Cyprus-Gaza aid corridor to be decided in two days: Israeli FM

Israel wants to fast-track the delivery of humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said during his brief visit to Cyprus.

"Cyprus and Israel, together with other partners in the region, are promoting the initiative for a secure maritime corridor to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, in an organised and well-inspected manner," Cohen added on Wednesday, 20 December.

He was speaking at a joint press conference after he and his Cypriot counterpart, Constantinos Kombos, visited the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) in the airport and port city of Larnaca, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kombos said the JRCC would play a decisive role in the implementation of the project dubbed "Amalthea" after the nurse-goddess in Greek mythology.

"Within the next two days, all the details for the implementation of the Cypriot proposal will be locked. The aim is to transfer humanitarian aid, which will relieve the hardship of the non-combatants in Gaza," Cohen added.

According to the proposal, humanitarian aid is planned to be shipped from Larnaca port to Gaza.

Meanwhile, a British Royal Navy ship identified as Lyme Bay, which sailed from Larnaca port on Saturday with 80 tonne of aid, mostly tents donated by Britain and pharmaceuticals provided by Cyprus, was reported to be still at sea.

The ship was originally scheduled to dock at the Egyptian port of El Arish, but it was later told to be waiting for Israeli approval to dock at an Israeli port.

On Wednesday, 20 December, the Hamas-run government media office said that the death toll of the Palestinians from Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has reached 20,000 since October 7.