Cyprus Port Not a Done Deal

YERUSHALAYIM

Media reports that were circulated Monday night of an agreement between Israel and Cyprus for a seaport to serve Gaza appear to have been premature, as Cyprus said on Tuesday it was still thinking it over.

“There is no agreement on this issue” but “there is a relevant request that is under consideration,” deputy government spokeswoman Klelia Vassiliou was quoted by AFP as saying on Tuesday.

A Hadashot report had quoted Israeli officials claiming that, following negotiations conducted by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in Nicosia last week, a working group was to begin drawing up a plan to be ready to go public in three months.

However, a day later Liberman’s office would not confirm that picture.

“The defense minister and security establishment, along with elements in the international community, are leading many initiatives aimed at changing the reality in the Gaza Strip,” a spokesman for his office said.

“Any idea presented to improve the humanitarian situation would be conditioned on solving the issue of the captives (Israelis held in Gaza) and MIAs,” or soldiers gone missing there since 2014, the spokesman said. “Beyond that we can’t provide details.”

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