Gaza aid from Cyprus resumes after pause following aid worker killings, source says

The Open Arms, a rescue vessel owned by a Spanish NGO, a cargo ship and a tug boat depart with humanitarian aid for Gaza from Larnaca, Cyprus, March 30, 2024. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File

Aid shipments to Gaza from Cyprus resumed late on Friday, a Cypriot source said, with a ship carrying food to the besieged Palestinian enclave after a pause following Israel's killing of seven aid workers.

The World Central Kitchen NGO paused aid to review its activity in the territory after the early April attack, halting the direct shipments into Gaza from Cyprus.

A small cargo vessel left the port of Larnaca on Friday night with aid donated by the United Arab Emirates, a Cypriot source said.

Israel's six-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza, in response to an attack by the militant group in southern Israel, has killed more than 34,000 people, Palestinian health authorities say, and caused a humanitarian disaster for the enclave's more than 2 million inhabitants.

The US has started construction of a floating jetty on Gaza's Mediterranean coast that will enable aid deliveries pre-screened in Cyprus with Israeli oversight. Once that aid reaches Gaza, it will still need to pass through Israeli checkpoints on land.