Assistance in Gaza through every available channel, US Ambassador says

We are looking to get assistance in Gaza through every channel that is available and as long as there is a need to feed people who are hungry “we are going to get as much as we possibly can into Gaza,” US Ambassador in Cyprus Julie Fisher told the press, following a meeting she had with President Nikos Christodoulides.

Speaking on 8 May, she also praised the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the port authorities and others who are working to get aid to the population in need.

Ambassador Fisher said that she had an opportunity to have a broad-ranging discussion with President Christodoulides, adding that “we have so much that is going on in our relationship which is truly at a level that we have not seen before.”

“We are doing so much together in support of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, we are doing so much to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza, we are working together in law enforcement level, in military to military channels, we are working so very closely together to bring Cypriots and Americans together, we have such a broad and rich agenda, it is a real pleasure for me to be back again this morning to discuss this agenda very thoroughly (with the President),” she noted.

Replying to a question when the jetty the US military is constructing will be ready to move into the sea in Gaza, she said that they are still in the process of completing the construction and this has to do with the conditions of the sea.

“And we will move it back as quickly into position for the delivery of assistance as we possibly can. We have so much work going on together at the port here to prepare the humanitarian assistance, to prepare the pallets,” she said.

She also praised "the incredible leadership" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the port authorities and others who have been working even over this holiday weekend to make sure that the humanitarian assistance, the food that is so desperately needed on the ground in Gaza, is going to be delivered as quickly as possible.

Replying to another question if the aid from the ship in Cyprus will continue on a regular basis, she said that they are looking to use this quarter but also are looking to get assistance in through every channel that is available, through the crossing points, through the maritime corridor "and as long as there is a need to feed people who are hungry, we are going to get as much as we possibly can into Gaza."

Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that the platform has been completed and is expected to be moved to the right location, as soon as the weather conditions permit.

He said that the loading of cargo onto an American ship that is docked in Larnaca is also being completed and once the platform on-site in Gaza is completed, this stage of the maritime corridor initiative will also be able to begin.

(Source: CNA/PIO)