Experts and diplomats from 36 countries along with representatives of international aid organizations met in Cyprus on Thursday to discuss further aid deliveries by sea for the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos said the focus was on logistical issues for transport by freighter from the Cypriot port of Larnaca to Gaza.
A fund is to be set up for this purpose, Kombos told journalists. “The aim is to increase aid deliveries to Gaza as much as possible,” he said.
However, no specific decisions were made during the consultations, according to official Cypriot sources. The participants would inform their governments about the discussions in the coming days, and there will be another meeting soon.
A freighter with around 500 tons of relief supplies is currently in the port of Larnaca ready for departure. It will leave in the next few days, a Cypriot government spokesman told dpa.
This would be the second aid delivery by sea. On Saturday, a ship belonging to an aid organization delivered around 200 tons of aid. Larnaca is about 400 kilometres from the Gaza Strip.