Cyprus sends 900 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus has sent a shipment of 900 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including medicines, medical equipment, hygiene supplies, food and shelter equipment, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The delivery is being carried out in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Project Services, the United Arab Emirates and directly involved parties.

International contributions

The foreign ministry said the shipment includes contributions from the French Republic, the Slovak Republic, the State of Kuwait, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the World Health Organisation, World Central Kitchen, All Hands and Hearts, and Project Hope.

Cyprus continues to serve as a hub for the collection, storage, security screening, inspection and dispatch of humanitarian aid, which is transferred for delivery and distribution in Gaza via the Israeli port of Ashdod, it added.

Since the launch of the humanitarian corridor, more than 37,000 tonnes of aid have been dispatched and delivered to Gaza’s civilian population, according to the ministry.

Amalthea initiative

The Amalthea plan has had a mixed history, with doubts initially expressed by Sigrid Kaag in 2024, when she was the United Nations’ senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.

Kaag, now the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said at the time that the project could “never be a substitute” for aid deliveries by land.

Aid is typically sent through Ashdod, where transfers have been more stable in recent months following the dismantling of a temporary jetty that had initially been used to transfer aid directly to Gaza.

At a summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in October last year, President Nikos Christodoulides reportedly included the Amalthea initiative in a multi-point plan outlining how Cyprus could support the “implementation and realisation” of United States President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza’s future.

The plan reportedly stated that mechanisms and procedures developed under Amalthea for fast-track security checks in Cyprus could be used in the next phase and offer important solutions.