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Protecting civilian lives, a key element of int. humanitarian law, Foreign Minister says

Protecting civilian lives is a key element of international humanitarian law that must be respected, reaffirmed the participants at the senior officials' meeting that took place on Thursday according to a statement by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, who chaired the meeting on the Cyprus Maritime Corridor in Larnaca. He said that, further to the Joint Statements of March 8 and March 14 2024, a senior officials' meeting for technical discussions was convened earlier today in Cyprus, aiming to accelerate the 'Amalthea Plan' to deliver much-needed additional amounts of humanitarian assistance by sea to Gaza. 'This is to complement and is no substitute to all existing routes, in particular through Rafah, Egypt, and Jordan, and entry points from Israel into Gaza for aid delivery at scale', he notes. The opening of Ashdod port to humanitarian assistance 'would be welcomed and a significant complement to the corridor', he adds. During the technical meeting, the statement said, the United Nations (UN) Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, who is in charge of facilitating, coordinating, monitoring, and verifying the flow of aid into Gaza, under UN Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023), also presented the way in which the maritime route can be one of the many entry points needed to scale up assistance into Gaza, including the UN mechanism and the prospect of setting up a Secretariat. According to the statement, over 35 countries and several international agencies deliberated at the meeting, on technical aspects with the aim of scaling up capacity as well as flexible funding modalities. Towards this end, it said, the 'Amalthea Fund', to which parties can contribute, was announced, and the possibility of a UN-managed multi-donor fund was discussed. Further deliberations with core partners will follow in the coming days. The participants also reaffirmed that protecting civilian lives is a key element of international humanitarian law that must be respected and that together we m ust all do more to ensure aid gets to people who desperately need it, the statement concludes. Source: Cyprus News Agency