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, Reuters reports.

Under the plan presented by President Nikos Christodoulides at a humanitarian conference in Paris, aid would be sent by sea to Gaza from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, the closest European Union member state about 370 km (230 miles) away.

“We hope immediately to implement it,” he said of the 25-page proposal.

The plan is aimed at expanding capacity for humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip beyond limited deliveries being made through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian enclave since Israel began its air and ground offensive in Gaza.

Christodoulides said the operations centre would be based in the southern Cypriot city of Larnaca, where there is a port and airport, and where a coordination centre with 33 countries is already in place.