Aid ships carrying 240 tonnes of food and supplies to Gaza will be sent back to Cyprus following a deadly attack against World Central Kitchen staff, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Theodoros Gotsis said.
World Central Kitchen said on Tuesday it is suspending its operations in Gaza after the killings of seven of its aid workers in an Israeli strike.
The Israeli strike hit a convoy carrying a World Central Kitchen team which had just unloaded more than 100 tonnes of food aid brought to Gaza via the maritime route from Cyprus on Monday. Citizens from Australia, Poland and Britain were among the victims.
The strike occurred 12 km from the landing area for aid – a makeshift jetty created by the charity.
The aid workers had just ended a shift halfway through the offloading process, which was supposed to resume early Tuesday, the Cypriot Foreign minister Konstantinos Kombos said.
The charity said it was pausing operations in the region with immediate effect. WCK has been active in Gaza since October, bringing food by land routes and also participating in air drops.
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