It is important to achieve political progress on various aspects of the Gaza plan, Foreign Affairs Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Thursday, referring to next week’s meeting in Cyprus of the Executive Council of the Gaza Board of Peace.
The Minister was replying to journalists’ questions on the sidelines of his meeting with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, Ferit Hoxha.
Asked how Cyprus is expected to be involved in the Gaza Summit, the Minister explained that this is a Summit of the administrative arm of the Executive Council of the Board of Peace which has chosen to convene in Cyprus.
‘We are not organising, we are not co-organising, we are not participating in the discussions that will take place,’ he said, recalling that the Republic of Cyprus has observer status with regard to the Board of Peace, only in what has to do exclusively with Gaza.
‘So this is an initiative, which was taken by the organisers. We happen to know some of them, we have frequent contacts. We have submitted our proposals regarding how things are progressing in Gaza, both in the humanitarian field and in reconstruction,’ he said, adding that in any bilateral meetings with some of the members of this Executive Council ‘our proposals will undoubtedly be discussed.’
The Foreign Affairs Minister stressed that due to the war in Iran, there has been a significant delay in progress regarding both financing and the implementation of specific projects in Gaza and welcomed the fact that there is now an examination of the essence of the issue.
“It happens to be taking place in our country, we happen to have some contacts with those involved. We have our proposals, we have developed them, in terms of content, and, given the opportunity, of course we will promote them,’ he said.
The Foreign Minister noted that the Board will also discuss the issue of financing.
‘This will also be discussed in part by the organizers in their own closed session,’ he said.
Asked whether there is a possibility that Cyprus could become the center for the reconstruction of Gaza, the Foreign Minister said that at this stage, one must keep in mind that this dialogue and effort, are resuming.
‘This is important. There have been some contacts in the past, but there was a prioritization of the international community regarding the situation as it was developing, in Iran,’ he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Kombos noted that it is important to see the political progress in various aspects of the plan, how the data on the ground are evolving, because, as he said, not all political issues to be resolved have been advanced.
There is also, he added, the issue of selecting reconstruction projects, provided that the necessary resources are available.
“So it is within this framework, that the next steps will be taken, from what we are informed, as well as the activities of the Peace Board,” he said.
Asked if there is a possibility that Cyprus which is an observer, will become a member of the Board he replied that “we are not a member, much less a permanent member. We decided to participate as observers in the part that concerns the activity of the Board of Peace regarding Gaza, which is also founded through the United Nations Security Council.”
He also recalled that during the session held in Washington, regarding the observes and Gaza, the majority of EU member states, including the European Commission, were present.
“Therefore, we are not walking a lonely path on this issue. We follow and comply with and align ourselves with the majority trend, given our geography and our profile in the context of exercising foreign policy,” he noted.
Asked whether the transfer of humanitarian aid continues, Kombos said it is indeed, noting that there was another shipment sent relatively recently, including medical equipment, incubators for infants, etc. He added that there is already a next shipment ready for departure.
The Minister spoke of a technical administrative issue with regard to customs in Israel, an internal labour dispute, which is creating some delays adding that this concerns the broader operation, it is not specific to our project.
“We are ready and waiting for the green light to be given with the resolution of the disputes, so that we can move forward,” he pointed out.
Concluding, Kombos said that there is humanitarian aid in Cyprus that is sent by friendly countries or organizations through the United Nations and UNOPS adding that resources are still there to continue this effort.