The UK “is working with our friends in the Cypriot Ministry of Defence” to deliver humanitarian aid directly into Gaza, the British Defence Minister James Heappey told the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.
Asked whether there have been any feasibility studies on aid getting delivered directly “from ship to shore”, Heappey added that “there are indeed ideas to do exactly that, but obviously they need to be agreed by all parties before they happen.”
The Minister reminded the MPs that RFA Lyme Bay delivered 87 tonnes of British aid destined for Gaza into Egypt on New Year’s Day, on what was the first maritime delivery, based on a Cypriot government initiative.
But he disclosed that the distribution of the aid has been “impeded” by challenges around its movement into Gaza.
He added that Foreign Office officers continue to work with the UN, Israel and Egypt to allow greater volumes of aid to be delivered.
Heappey also expressed preference for maritime routes for aid delivery over “imprecise” air drops of aid.
During the debate that followed Minister of State in the Foreign Office Andrew Mitchell noted that the aid that got delivered to Egypt was “British and Cypriot”. He also warned about a stark risk of famine in Gaza.
CNA/TG/ΜΚ/2024
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY