Italy has delivered a state-of-the-art scanner to the port city of Larnaca in Cyprus as part the 'Food for Gaza' humanitarian initiative which the government is coordinating with United Nations and other partners including the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
"Today’s is another important step adding to the many actions implemented by the Italian government to provide concrete aid to the civilian population of Gaza," Tajani said at the handover ceremony.
Thanks to a close synergy between different actors from the Italian System, the business world and multilateral bodies, we are handing over to the Cyprus authorities a control system that will facilitate and speed up the transit of humanitarian aid to Gaza," he said.
The scanner was provided by the Gioia Tauro Port Authority, in coordination with Italy's Customs and Monopolies Agency and the Civil Protection Department, which are "actively involved" in the humanitarian centre for Gaza in Cyprus, according to a foreign ministry statement.
The scanner was transported to Cyprus free of charge by the shipping company Grimaldi Lines and will allow checks on the humanitarian aid products that will be sent through a sea corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, said the foreign ministry statement.
Italy's customs agency is also deploying three teams of trainers who will assist the Cypriot authorities in setting up and operating the equipment.
Tuesday's ceremony followed phone talks on Friday between Tajani and his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos, which reaffirmed Italy and Cyprus's cooperation to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population in the war-ravaged and besieged Gaza Strip and in ensuring peace and stability throughout the Mediterranean, said the statement.
The first shipment of tens of tonnes of food and sanitary items headed to Gaza via Brindisi and Jordan on 3 June under the 'Food for Gaza' scheme, for which 30 million euros has been allocated, the foreign ministry stated.
The government unveiled the Food for Gaza scheme in March in which it is partnering with the UN World Food Programme, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Italian agricultural producers, the civil protection agency and other Italian players.
