Resumption of Aid from Cyprus to Gaza After Suspension Following Relief Workers' Deaths

A Cypriot source reported that aid shipments from Cyprus to Gaza resumed late Friday evening, with a ship carrying food supplies sailing to the besieged Palestinian territory after aid was halted following the killing of seven relief workers in an Israeli airstrike. The NGO "World Central Kitchen" had suspended its aid to review its activities in the sector after the attack that took place in early April, a decision that led to the suspension of direct shipments from Cyprus to Gaza. The Cypriot source indicated that a small cargo ship departed from the port of Larnaca last night carrying aid donated by the UAE. Palestinian health authorities state that over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war waged by Israel for six months in Gaza, in response to an attack carried out by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in southern Israel. The Israeli campaign has also caused a humanitarian catastrophe for the more than two million residents of the sector. The United States has started constructing a floating dock on the Mediterranean coast in the Gaza Strip, which will allow for the inspection of aid shipments in Cyprus under Israeli supervision. However, when that aid reaches Gaza, it will also need to pass through Israeli checkpoints on the ground.