Cyprus-Gaza aid corridor: Some relief, but no end to crisis

This is a maiden voyage like no other. On Tuesday, the first ship carrying much-needed food for Gaza departed Cyprus to navigate a new maritime aid corridor.

The charity workers operating the vessel, Open Arms, cheered and clapped as it slowly set off through the blue Cypriot waters. The ship departed Larnaca, a port city on the island nation's southern coast, with 200 tons of rice, flour, canned vegetables, and fish onboard. The idea is to get food directly to the Gaza Strip, as the United Nations (UN) warns the besieged territory is on the brink of famine.

Tuesday's departure was the culmination of months of political talks and weeks of practical planning. Under the plan, which Cyprus initiated and announced in partnership with the United Arab Emirates, the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom last week, Cypriot officials would check the goods with Israeli oversight so the precious cargo can head straight to Gaza.

EU, Cyprus reactions to the aid corridor opening

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it "a sign of hope." Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said a "journey of hope and humanity" had begun. In a hastily filmed video with the departing Open Arms ship behind him, aid worker Juan Camilo described it as a "historic mission."

"We hope that this ship is the first of many ships going to Gaza, and it will be like a highway of ships," Camilo, who helped prepare and launch the shipment with charity World Central Kitchen, said in the video posted online.

But making a highway happen will not be easy: World Central Kitchen's team in the Palestinian territory has been busy constructing a makeshift jetty to receive and offload the aid at an undisclosed location off the Gazan coast. Separately, the US plans to build a bigger temporary pier over the coming weeks to speed up sea deliveries.

No clarity on when more ships will set sail for Gaza

A 20-minute drive from Larnaca's port, Cypriot maritime monitoring staffers huddle around screens from the country's Joint Rescue Coordination Center. Cyprus is the closest point in the European Union to Gaza, but the crossing is still some 400 kilometers, and officials are watching closely.

The hub is usually used to coordinate search missions for migrant boats, and staff here helped organize evacuations of diplomats and EU citizens from Sudan in 2023. Now they have a new challenge: Monitoring the maritime corridor and being on alert to deploy helicopters or rescue vessels in their zone of responsibility that covers all but the last 30 nautical miles of the journey.

For now, all eyes are on the Open Arms vessel, and there are no indications yet of when a second, third, or fourth ship might set sail.

"There are, of course, plans for that. There is more aid in Cyprus," Theodoros Gotsis, the spokesperson of the Cypriot foreign ministry, told DW at the center.

"But we have to be cautious. We have to have the patience that this situation needs currently and to be sure that everything will go well with the route of this ship," Gotsis said.

This carefully choreographed corridor is by no means the simplest way to get food to Gazans. Nor are the complicated and dangerous airdrops several countries, including the United States, Jordan and Belgium, have been piloting in recent weeks.

Since the Hamas terror attacks on October 7 and Israel's ensuing bombardment of Gaza, traditional land routes for aid entry have been hard to access. According to the European Commission, some 500 trucks of supplies entered Gaza each day before the war. Now, it's only around 100, and the need has grown substantially as the conflict rages on.

Israel claims it's committed to getting supplies to Gazan civilians. In a statement welcoming the new maritime corridor on Friday, the Israeli government said it "will continue to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip in accordance with the rules of war."

"We will continue the fight against Hamas … until its elimination and the return of all the hostages," the statement added.

Sea deliveries cannot replace land routes: UN

But Israel also stands accused of blocking vital aid to Gazans. In January, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to do more to ensure humanitarian access to the strip.

"Israeli authorities have failed to ensure sufficient life-saving goods and services are reaching a population at risk of genocide and on the brink of famine," Amnesty International said in a February statement.

The European Union has also expressed frustration.

"We condemn the restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of humanitarian aid and on the opening of crossing points," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said in a statement in early March. "We urge Israel to fully cooperate with the UN agencies and other humanitarian actors involved in the humanitarian response and to allow free, unimpeded and safe humanitarian access through all crossing points."

United Nations officials are warning that sea routes can be no alternative to ramping up humanitarian access by land.

"I'd like to commend the government of Cyprus for their foresight, their inclusive planning, the way in which they've built a coalition of countries," Sigrid Kaag, the UN's Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, told reporters on Thursday.

"But again, air or sea is not a substitute to what we need to see arrive at land," she added. "It's easier, it's faster, it's cheaper, particularly if we know that we need to sustain humanitarian assistance to Gazans for a long period of time."

Edited by: Carla Bleiker