Aid to Gaza via Amalthea dependent on ‘favourable circumstances’

The continuation of humanitarian aid relief to Gaza through the Amalthea plan is dependent on “favourable circumstances”, foreign ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis said on Monday, adding that preparations are ongoing.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Sunday that 400 tonnes of food arrived at the port of Ashdod via Larnaca to meet the needs of the people of Gaza.

Meanwhile, humanitarian aid organisation World Central Kitchen (WCK) announced on Sunday it will resume operations in the Gaza Strip while also examining prospects of re-launching its mission from Cyprus.

Earlier on Saturday, President Nikos Christodoulides hailed the Cyprus sea-corridor as  “mission resumed” following the aid ship Jennifer setting sail for Gaza on Friday night carrying the aid donated by the UAE.

According to WCK’s announcement it is studying plans to resume deliveries through the Cyprus sea corridor.

Meanwhile, 276 trucks with nearly eight million meals are currently ready to enter through Rafah and other trucks from Jordan, the NGO said.

Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC, Gotsis said large quantities of food are amassed and ready in storage facilities at Larnaca port and calls for donations by the employers’ and industrialists’ federation (Oev) have also been heeded. The aid is likely to be shipped on Tuesday if developments permit, Gotsis said.

“The UAE has pledged €15 million and the UK and the Netherlands are also contributing to the establishment of an [Amalthea] humanitarian fund,” Gotsis recalled, saying details of the fund’s management and function are being hammered out.

The establishment of the fund for humanitarian aid is expected to be signed into agreement within the week, according to a report in Phileleftheros.

The floating dock built by US forces is expected to be finished around May 10, Gotsis said and is projected to boost the Amalthea effort.

WCK’s announcement comes four weeks after seven of its staff were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

In its statement the organisation said it was forced decide between halting distribution of meals “in the midst of one of the worst hunger crises ever recorded”, or to continue “knowing that […] aid workers are being intimidated and killed.”

Seven WCK workers were killed on April 1 in an airstrike that hit three of the NGO’s marked vehicles while departing from an organisation warehouse.

WCK said it would continue to demand explanations and rules to protect aid workers. “Our demand for an impartial and international investigation remains,” its chief executive Erin Gore, said.

The resumption of the aid mission from Cyprus also comes in the midst of a planned shipment of aid by sea from Turkey through the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ coalition.

On Saturday two of this aid mission’s ships were blocked, being unable to sail under their Guinea-Bissau flag, after the West African country denied use of its vessels.

“Sadly, Guinea-Bissau has allowed itself to become complicit in Israel’s deliberate starvation, illegal siege and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” the Freedom Flotilla coalition said.

Experts affiliated with the UN’s high commission for human rights’ had demanded safe passage of the shipment carrying 5,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international humanitarian observers.

“As the Freedom Flotilla approaches Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, it is essential for Israel to adhere to international law,” they said, adding that “Israel should remember that the world is closely watching.”

The aid is being gathered by Turkish humanitarian relief organisation IHH, an organisation banned in Israel which claims it has previously aided Hamas.

US officials have expressed concern about the deteriorating relationship between Israel and Turkey and charged that the planned flotilla would “exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”, while citing the Amalthea initiative as an example of “effective international cooperation.”

In 2010, a previous “Freedom Flotilla” set off from the southern Turkish city of Antalya, leading to a deadly episode after Israeli military forces attacked one of the ships, leaving ten dead and 28 wounded aboard.