How diplomacy succeeded in sending the first aid ship to Gaza

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Good morning. A ship towing 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid from Cyprus is due to arrive in Gaza today, in a rare example of an international vessel reaching the enclave. Here, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides tells our Athens correspondent how four months of diplomatic negotiations were behind the pilot crossing.

And below, our agriculture sleuth brings you details of the latest Brussels attempt to appease outraged farmers.

Maiden voyage

A food supply ship is the latest international effort to bring supplies to the Gaza enclave that has endured a 17-year-old Israeli naval blockade, writes Eleni Varvitsioti.

Context: Since war broke out between Hamas and Israel in October, 2.3mn Gazans have faced a worsening scarcity of food. About 300,000 people in northern Gaza are suffering especially badly, the UN has said, with some children dying from starvation.

“For the first time in about two decades, the Gaza strip will be connected to the outside world via its sea border,” Christodoulides told the FT in an interview.

The ship Open Arms, supplied by a Spanish charity of the same name, sailed out of Larnaca on Tuesday, towing a barge carrying flour, rice, and protein.

It took about four months of diplomatic negotiations to convince Israel to agree, involving the EU, US, UK and other countries.

The trip, originally slated to begin last weekend, was partly funded by the United Arab Emirates and organised by the US-based charity World Central Kitchen, which will distribute the load, according to Cypriot officials. Future deliveries would be distributed in collaboration with local aid agencies and the Israeli military, they said.

“There’s an operational protocol that we have developed, produced with the Israelis,” Christodoulides said. “We have incorporated the Israeli team in the inspection procedure carried out in Cyprus.”

Western capitals have demanded that Israel speed up inspections that are blocking aid trucks at Gaza’s land border crossings, and aid agencies have called for further measures to prevent Israel’s military from targeting aid convoys.

But those calls have not been heeded, spurring efforts such as the charity ship and a US plan to build a temporary pier.

“We felt compelled to try to add the maritime route. It’s our moral duty,” said Christodoulides.

UN officials welcomed the initiative but cautioned that it could not replace deliveries by land from Egypt and Jordan.

The Cypriots hope that, once the maritime corridor has been established, two to three vessels will be able to leave Cyprus each week carrying 8,000 to 10,000 tonnes of aid.

“It gives flesh and bone to what we always say that we are: an EU member state that is an integral part of the region, a reliable partner,” Christodoulides added.

Chart du jour: ECB dieting

The European Central Bank is rethinking how it provides liquidity to the financial system, announcing plans to lend more to commercial banks while shrinking its large bond portfolio.

Green tightrope

Brussels plans to make “surgical” changes to its agricultural policies and environmental standards as part of a campaign to placate farmers while defending its Green Deal, writes Alice Hancock.

Context: Europe’s 9mn farmers have taken to the streets in force since the beginning of the year, with tractors blocking roads in at least half of the member states. Police used tear gas last month and called in riot units as tractors rammed barricades and spread manure in the streets.

Tomorrow, the European Commission will present two proposals for adjustments to its €60bn-a-year Common Agricultural Policy, which eats up a third of the bloc’s budget. This will include additional exemptions of the environmental criteria that farmers must meet to receive payments, following an initial paperwork-cutting effort in January.

Rules requiring farmers to rotate crops will be eased further, for example, and member states will be able to make more amendments to the plans for how they implement the CAP “to address more quickly farmers’ changing situations”, according to draft proposals seen by the FT.

The commission will also consider “punctual changes” to laws that affect farmers outside the CAP, including forest monitoring and deforestation legislation and renewable energy rules.

All are changes suggested after an “ad hoc consultation” with input from the EU’s four biggest farming groups, EU ministers and the European parliament’s agriculture committee.

A paper on farmers’ role in the food chains is also expected, though EU officials are cagey about progress, saying this could be delayed. The commission declined to comment.

But will such technical tweaks be enough?

“It releases pressure on the sector and gives farmers some room for breath,” said Peter Meedendorp, president of the young farmers group Ceja.

What to watch today

1. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visit the Faroe Islands.

2. Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg presents the alliance’s 2023 annual report at 12.00pm.

Now read these