ABU DHABI – The escalating humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip requires a multilateral international cooperative approach to lessen its impact on civilians, and to work diligently to open humanitarian corridors for transporting aid quickly, consistently, and without obstacles, said Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He participated in a virtual ministerial meeting to discuss plans for opening a maritime corridor to deliver additional humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea.
The meeting, hosted on March 13 by the Republic of Cyprus Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Constantinos Kombos, included prominent figures such as U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken; European Union Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič; UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Cameron; Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh al-Khulaifi, Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar; and UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag.
This gathering followed a joint statement issued on March 8th by the European Commission, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Cyprus, the UAE, the UK, and the US, supporting the activation of a maritime corridor for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The meeting explored ways to support this humanitarian initiative and speed up the establishment of the maritime corridor to ensure the necessary humanitarian aid reaches Gaza’s civilians. It also discussed cooperation mechanisms among the participating countries and with UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag. This collaboration aims at facilitating, coordinating, and verifying the aid flow to Gaza under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2720.
Sheikh Abdullah highlighted the importance of the “Amalthea” initiative, recently announced by Cyprus, which outlines a safe method for shipping aid from Cyprus to Gaza by sea.
He emphasized that this initiative is crucial for the efforts to launch the maritime corridor and reiterated the UAE’s strong commitment to mobilizing international support for the initiative.
He also stressed the UAE’s eagerness to work with international partners to improve the humanitarian response for Gaza’s civilians.
The UAE minister expressed gratitude to the Ministers and officials involved in the meeting, commending their willingness to cooperate and provide the necessary humanitarian support to the civilians in the Gaza Strip, thereby helping to alleviate their suffering.