Kombos discusses future of Gaza with Israel’s Sa’ar

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos on Sunday discussed the future of Gaza with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar.

“Of course, issues concerning our region were discussed, with an emphasis on what concerns the next day in Gaza and the need to implement [United States] President [Donald] Trump’s plan,” he told the Cyprus News Agency upon the completion of a one-day visit to the State of Israel.

He said he had told Saar of “the role of Cyprus as a bridge of cooperation between international partners” and said he had raised the “six relevant proposals” put forward by President Nikos Christodoulides at a summit on Gaza’s future held in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh last month.

On the matter of the Sharm El-Sheikh summit, he said that both Cyprus and Israel share “common concerns about the way in which some third parties may try to acquire a role which would not be to the benefit of the wider region”.

That comment came as Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters on Sunday that there will be “no Turkish boots on the ground”, with the Cypriot government having also held reservations regarding Turkey’s presence in Sharm El-Sheikh and its involvement in the Gaza peace process.

Newspaper Phileleftheros had claimed that “Ankara attempted to exclude the ‘defunct’ Republic of Cyprus, as it considers it” from the Sharm El-Sheikh summit, having been informed as such by government sources, with the Turkish government flatly denying that this was the case.

Christodoulides returned from Sharm El-Sheikh speaking of “six initiatives the Republic of Cyprus can undertake” based on Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza’s future.

Cypriot government sources told the Cyprus Mail at the time that those six initiatives were based on three subjects: security, humanitarian aid and reconstruction, and that they had been submitted in the form of a letter to the European Union and the United Nations in Sharm El-Sheikh, while copies had also been distributed to the summit’s other attendees.

The letter, they said, spoke of how Cyprus can “utilise our geographical position” to contribute to the future of Gaza, “just as we did for the Amalthea initiative” – Cyprus’ maritime humanitarian aid corridor to Gaza.

“Right now, there are no details, as the details will come about based on how and when we are needed and how the peace plan is implemented. Based on the plan, and based on the implementation of the plan, the details will come later,” they said.

“We are basically saying, ‘whatever help you may need, we are here to utilise our geographical position and the fact that we are accepted by both Israel and Palestine, and by the Arab states, to offer what we can to help’.”

Christodoulides had earlier said that he wanted “Cypriot companies to have a role in the reconstruction” of Gaza.

Away from the matter of Gaza, Kombos on Sunday said Cyprus “maintains a strategic relationship with Israel, which covers issues of mutual interest, especially in the sectors of energy, defence, and trade”.

On the issue of trade, he said that “one only needs to look at the numbers regarding the mutual flow of investment between the two countries”.