Blockade of the Gaza Strip

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has arrived in New York to participate in the U.N. Security Council meeting on Palestine scheduled for Jan. 23.

The gathering aims to address "the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the US that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any post-war scenario, Al Jazeera reported.

Israel is prepared to let ships deliver aid to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip "immediately" as part of a proposed sea corridor from Cyprus, the Israeli foreign minister said on Sunday, naming four European countries, including Greece, as potential participants.

Under the initiative of the Foreign Ministry, Greek humanitarian aid headed for the Gaza Strip arrived at Egypt's El Arish Airport on Thursday.

The NGOs Doctors of the World and International Humanitarian Aid Foundation contributed the cargo, which consists of first-aid supplies and personal hygiene products, in addition to a fully outfitted reception and basic patient care unit.

The United Nations named an outgoing Dutch minister its humanitarian coordinator for Gaza on Tuesday following last week's watered-down Security Council resolution which called for aid to be delivered to the strip "at scale."

Israel and Cyprus agreed on Wednesday to pursue ways to set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza, a move Israel said was an "important step" towards disengaging economically from the enclave it has invaded to wipe out Hamas militants.

The United Nations Security Council was due to vote Wednesday on a much-delayed resolution calling for a pause to the Israel-Hamas war after members wrangled over wording while aid efforts in the Gaza Strip neared collapse.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza was rapidly deteriorating, with a senior U.N. official saying Israel's steps to allow in aid were "far short" of mounting need.

Greece is willing to send aid to the Gaza Strip through military means, as it did in November when it sent a C-130 with pharmaceutical and medical supplies to the territory through Egypt, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis has said.

The UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territory, Lynn Hastings, said on Monday that the current amount of aid is insufficient and that there are no conditions necessary for the delivery of aid to Gaza, reports CNN.
Hastings added that it is possible that "an even more hellish scenario will soon unfold, which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond to".

The president of Cyprus has outlined a proposal to open a maritime corridor to help deliver more aid to Gaza, a plan which he said could be operational quickly but which diplomats said faced challenges.