Malta Confirms Peripheral Role In US-Led Mission To Create Maritime Corridor For Gaza Aid
A coalition of nations, including the United States, is setting up a maritime corridor through which humanitarian aid – specifically food – will pass to land in Gaza.
Malta is currently in talks with the organising states to figure out “how the island can better contribute to such initiatives”, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Lovin Malta, denoting a peripheral role in the initiative.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated yesterday that this joint effort forms part of a US strategy aimed to “flood the zone” with humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden announced plans for the country’s military to set up a dock on the enclave’s Mediterranean coast that will reportedly enable the distribution of up to two million meals a day in Gaza.
This comes as the inhabitants of the strip of land lay on the brink of famine as a result of the relentless air strikes that have ravaged the area since 7th October.
Asking whether Malta will form part of this corridor considering its strategic location, the foreign ministry told Lovin Malta that “we are in touch with various countries, including the US, working towards the establishment of a maritime humanitarian corridor to understand how Malta can better contribute to such initiatives”.
“Malta welcomes and will continue to contribute to all initiatives that aim to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza by ensuring that food and health supplies arrive uninterrupted, rapidly, and peacefully as much as possible.”
The joint mission to open a maritime corridor involves the European Commission, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
It’s building on the model of the Amalthea Initiative, which is a Cyprus-led mechanism for the secure shipping of aid from Gaza to Cyprus via sea.
In a joint statement from the group nations and regional bodies, this initiative was described as “integral” to enabling the joint effort to launch a maritime corridor.
Meanwhile, two days ago, a video was released of the first ship carrying humanitarian aid leaving from Cyprus en route to Gaza.
In an image of the vessel shared by CNN, a Virtu Ferries ship can be clearly spotted. Lovin Malta reached out to the company to confirm whether this ship formed part of the mission or whether its presence was purely coincidental.
The crisis in Gaza was induced by Israel’s continuous reaction to the Hamas attack on 7th October. Since then, Israeli missiles, funded by the US, have been mercilessly bombarding the area, with reports stating that essential infrastructure has been targeted, including hospitals, refugee camps, and even aid delivery convoys.
Featured image of Blinken: Forbes.
What do you make of this?
READ NEXT: Watch: First Ever Pro-Choice Speech By Maltese MEP At EU Parliament
