Screened in Cyprus, British and Cypriot Aid Heads to Gaza via Egypt

A picture taken from a position in southern Israel, along the border with the Gaza Strip, shows smoke billowing over the Palestinian territory during Israeli bombardment on January 2, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
A picture taken from a position in southern Israel, along the border with the Gaza Strip, shows smoke billowing over the Palestinian territory during Israeli bombardment on January 2, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
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Screened in Cyprus, British and Cypriot Aid Heads to Gaza via Egypt

A picture taken from a position in southern Israel, along the border with the Gaza Strip, shows smoke billowing over the Palestinian territory during Israeli bombardment on January 2, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
A picture taken from a position in southern Israel, along the border with the Gaza Strip, shows smoke billowing over the Palestinian territory during Israeli bombardment on January 2, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)

Britain and Cyprus have sent 87 tons of aid to Gaza via Egypt, the two countries said on Tuesday, with Cypriot officials saying they had successfully tested a screening mechanism for cargoes offering an alternative route for badly needed supplies.

The Jan. 1 delivery to Port Said in Egypt for transfer to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing fell short of Cyprus' ultimate objective to establish a direct aid corridor to the Israel-besieged Palestinian enclave. But, for the first time, it offered a workaround on how aid could be accelerated by eliminating security checks in Israel itself, officials said.

The Cypriot initiative to create a sustained, one-way sea route into Gaza entails aid undergoing security checks in Cyprus by government agencies, including from Israel, before being dispatched onwards from the eastern Mediterranean island.

"The international community now has a workable alternative at its disposal to send additional humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza," Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said in a written statement.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Britain was committed to supporting the people of Gaza.

"Significantly more aid needs to reach Gaza to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people," he said.

Israel is waging a nearly 12-week-old offensive on Gaza in retaliation for a cross-border killing and kidnapping spree by Hamas militants.

Israeli bombardments have reduced much of the territory to rubble, killing at least 22,000 people and causing a humanitarian disaster with most of the 2.3 million population homeless and acutely short of food, water, medicine and fuel.

Eli Cohen, Israel's outgoing foreign minister, said on Sunday his country was prepared to let ships deliver aid to the war-ravaged enclave "immediately".

Cyprus, situated some 370 km (230 miles) northwest of Gaza, is the closest European Union member state to the region. Its plan is meant to expand capacity for humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip beyond limited deliveries now being made overland through Rafah.

Any direct sail to Gaza with Israel's consent would mark the first easing of an Israeli naval blockade first imposed on Gaza in 2007 after Palestinian movement Hamas seized control of the coastal enclave.

But underscoring logistical challenges, the British Royal Fleet auxiliary ship which offloaded thermal blankets, shelter packs and medicine in Egypt on Monday was at sea for at least 10 days awaiting clarity as to whether it could sail directly to Gaza, individuals with knowledge of the situation said.

The direct route is not currently executable due to requirements including security matters which have "not been met at this point in time", one of those sources said.

"The situation is very dynamic and we will continue to deliberate with all relevant stakeholders on the best time and way to operationalize the initiative," the source said.



Hamas Says It’s Sending a Delegation to Qatar to Continue Gaza Ceasefire Talks 

A child looks on as mourners pray next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A child looks on as mourners pray next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Hamas Says It’s Sending a Delegation to Qatar to Continue Gaza Ceasefire Talks 

A child looks on as mourners pray next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A child looks on as mourners pray next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

A Hamas official said Monday that the Palestinian group is sending a delegation to Qatar to continue indirect ceasefire talks with Israel over the war in Gaza, as the territory’s Health Ministry said that 38 people were confirmed dead over the past day.

The Hamas official said teams have been discussing terms for a new ceasefire agreement over recent days in Cairo, including a proposal that Hamas free eight to 10 hostages held in Gaza. But the Hamas official said a major sticking point remained over whether the war would end as part of any new deal.

The talks in Qatar are meant to take place later this week or next, the official said.

The Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the sensitive talks with the media. Officials from Israel and Qatar had no immediate comment.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in January that lasted eight weeks before Israel resumed the war last month. The initial ceasefire agreement was meant to bring the sides toward negotiating an end to the war, something Israel has resisted doing because it wants to defeat Hamas first.

Since the ceasefire fell apart last month, Israel has blocked aid from entering Gaza and forces have also seized swaths of the coastal enclave in a bid to ratchet up pressure on Hamas to agree to a deal more aligned with Israel's terms.

On Monday, the United Nations humanitarian office warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now likely to be “the worst” since Israel launched its retaliation to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, pointing to the Israeli ban on all supplies entering the Gaza Strip since March 2.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters: “No fuel has come in, no food has come in, no medicine has come in.”

The war started when Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during the attack on southern Israel and took 251 people captive. Most have since been freed in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Fifty-nine remain in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to still be alive.

Nearly 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the dead have been women and children.

The Health Ministry said Monday that the bodies of 38 people killed in Israeli strikes were brought to hospitals across the territory over the past 24 hours. It said more than 1,600 people have been killed since the ceasefire collapsed.

Also Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that a Palestinian medic was detained during an Israeli military operation in which troops killed 15 first responders in the Gaza Strip. It was the first confirmation of the medic's whereabouts since the March 23 attack in southern Gaza.

A statement from the Red Cross said it has not been granted access to visit him and did not say how it had received confirmation of his detention. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

The Israeli military initially said troops had opened fire on vehicles that raised suspicion because they were traveling without lights on. It later backtracked after a cellphone video emerged showing clearly marked ambulances traveling with their sirens flashing before the shooting.

The military also said it killed nine militants traveling in the ambulances, without providing evidence. It named one of the militants, but the name did not match those of any of the paramedics, and no other bodies are known to have been recovered.

The military says it is investigating further.