Israel’s foreign ministry says the country has given preliminary approval to Cyprus for a maritime humanitarian corridor to ship aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, AFP reports.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said Israel had tentatively approved a system to allow international aid to be checked “with Israeli supervision” in Cyprus before being delivered directly to Gaza.

“There’s a basic authorisation to use this route, but there are still some logistical problems that are waiting to be solved,” Haiat told AFP.