A British naval ship which took on a load of humanitarian aid for Gaza failed to deliver it and docked in Malta instead for security concerns, Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported on Thursday.
“The conditions for the full implementation of our (humanitarian) initiative, as well as the relative timing, are affected by asymmetric factors beyond our own control,” Cypriot government sources said, according to CNA. They added: “We are at a sensitive point, we are doing everything we can to help. And we will continue.”
The British ship, the RFA Lyme Bay, was carrying 80 tons of aid, mostly tents donated by Britain and medicines from Cyprus. It sailed from Larnaca port for Gaza on Dec. 16.
However, after several days it diverted its course from the eastern Mediterranean region over security concerns, the Cypriot government sources said.
They added that “it is up to the side in possession of the marine transport means (the UK) to decide about the final point of safe delivery.”
Cypriot state radio CyBC reported on Thursday that a British Defense Ministry spokesman had refused to comment on the actual movements of the ship, but repeated that the delivery of the humanitarian aid depended on all parties involved in the Gaza conflict giving their approval. ■
