The European Union, along with the United States and the United Arab Emirates, will launch a maritime corridor to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza amid mounting alarm about the conditions there, according to Bloomberg.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced the plan Friday during a trip to Cyprus, where she warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. She said the operation should begin this weekend, with a pilot operation being conducted Friday.
“I call on all the actors who have a role to play here to help this corridor deliver on its potential,” von der Leyen said in a statement. “The maritime corridor can make a real difference in the plight of the Palestinian people.”
The EU has been growing increasingly frustrated about humanitarian aid flows being blocked, but the bloc remains split over how its approach to Israel and the crisis. EU leaders will address the Middle East crisis when they hold a summit in Brussels later this month, but it’s unclear whether they will be able to agree on a joint statement calling for a humanitarian pause or a ceasefire.
Belgium, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, conducted the first flight this week in an airdrop operation coordinated by Jordan aimed at delivering aid to Gaza. Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said that the suffering of civilians is “unbearable.”
“All those concerned about the situation in Gaza should put pressure on Israeli government to grant unimpeded humanitarian land access & not blocking convoys,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said in a post on X on Thursday. “Other options are not enough: airdrops good but insufficient, sea corridors needed but take time. And time is of essence.”
President Joe Biden said Thursday that he ordered the US military to create a temporary port on the Gaza coast as he called on Israel to allow more aid into the territory.
US officials said it could take weeks to build the facility, which could allow ships to deliver food, water, medicine and other supplies.