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France, Britain and the Netherlands are drawing up plans to send humanitarian aid to Gaza by ship to ease the plight of Palestinian civilians and alleviate pressure on the border crossing with Egypt, which has become a chokepoint for convoys.
The idea was floated by Emmanuel Macron and Mark Rutte, the French and Dutch leaders, during separate trips to Israel last week. The UK is also looking at delivering aid to Gaza by sea, according to people familiar with the planning. Macron discussed the idea with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak in a call on Sunday, said a person briefed on the conversation.
“The sea is, of course, a possibility,” Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren told the Financial Times. “We know that the French have already sent one of their vessels for medical aid. Lots of our partner countries, and we also, are in Cyprus with our military.”
Negotiations are still under way to determine exactly how a sea route would work, according to people familiar with the talks, and the scheme may not come to fruition. Diplomatic efforts remain focused on easing the flow of aid through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, the only crossing into Gaza not controlled by Israel.
Only 131 lorries carrying water, food and medicine have been allowed into Gaza through Rafah since Israel closed other border points and restricted supplies of power and water as it laid siege to the strip following Hamas’s deadly assault on October 7. That is a fraction of the 500 or so trucks that entered the enclave every day before the war.
According to a senior UN official, Israel has so far insisted that all aid lorries entering Gaza from Egypt first pass through an inspection point at Nitzana in southern Israel, about 50km south of the enclave, slowing the process while the supplies are unloaded for inspection. The cargoes are then reloaded and sent back into Egypt, taken to the Rafah crossing, unloaded and reloaded again on Palestinian trucks.
Deliveries by sea would almost certainly require a pause in the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas. The strip’s only port is in Gaza City, the capital, which is the main target of the Israeli military’s ongoing ground operation.
Aid agencies report a dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, where 2.3mn residents are running short of water, food and power, hospitals are being forced to operate without anaesthetic and the displacement of about 1mn people has left them lacking sanitation and other basic facilities.
European countries have been expressing growing alarm; the 27 EU leaders last week issued a statement of “gravest concern” and called for “humanitarian corridors and pauses” in the fighting.
Ollongren said aid delivered by European navies could dispense with Israeli inspections. She said they would bring “an element of trust because it is co-ordinated by countries that Israel is in contact with and could rely on that it is really about humanitarian aid”.
However, it is unclear whether Israel would agree to the plan. An Israeli official said Israel might accept deliveries of aid by sea to Gaza if there was a mechanism to verify what was on the ships.
European militaries have sent naval vessels, aircraft and personnel to the eastern Mediterranean, primarily as a contingency for evacuating citizens from Lebanon if the war spreads, but also as potential means of delivering aid.
The UK dispatched two Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, including Lime Bay, a dock landing ship, to the eastern Mediterranean earlier this month.
France has sent the Tonnerre, a helicopter carrier with its own hospital, including 69 beds and two operating rooms. A French official said the vessel could eventually provide aid to Gaza by docking near the coast of the strip or near Cairo, adding that “all scenarios are still being studied”.
“The advantage of sending the Tonnerre vessel is that it can be adapted to the situation, which is changing day by day,” the person said.
Speaking in Brussels on Friday, Macron said he intended to work with EU partners to establish a “maritime humanitarian corridor” that could eventually move injured Palestinians, and get food and medical supplies to Gaza.
“Cyprus will serve as a rear base for this corridor . . . and Greece is willing to send equipment, along with any European partners who want to take part in this operation,” he said.
“It will take some time to work out but there have already been contacts between us and the Israeli authorities about this,” Macron said.
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