France will organize four flights with humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, with the flights starting tomorrow, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot after his meeting in Nicosia today with his Cypriot counterpart Konstantinos Kombos, KNA reported, BTA reported.
Each of the flights will carry 10 tons of aid. They will be carried out in coordination with Jordan, Barrot specified.
At the same time, the French foreign minister insisted on the cessation of the activities of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which he described as a “militarized system for distributing humanitarian aid that has caused a bloodbath in the distribution lines in Gaza“. Barrot said that this is “scandalous, shameful and must stop“.
For his part, Kombos expressed hope that the program for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza via Cyprus would be resumed soon. When asked, the Cypriot foreign minister specified that 1,200 tons of humanitarian aid for Gaza are currently in Cyprus. He recalled that so far, about 22 thousand tons have been sent through the system in Cyprus, which operates under the auspices of the UN.
He also announced that Cyprus and France intend to deepen their ties by signing an agreement on enhanced partnership relations, which will take place during the upcoming visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the country.
In a written statement to the media, the director of the press service of the Cypriot presidency, Victoras Papadopoulos, specified that Macron's visit is expected to take place by the end of the year.
In Nicosia, Barrot also spoke earlier with the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides.