On Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter said that humanitarian aid for Gaza is expected to sail from Cyprus in the coming days.
It was not immediately clear which country was supplying the aid, where it would land, or how it would be distributed. The source said aid was being coordinated with the United Arab Emirates.
"They want the aid to be dispatched before the start of Ramadan" on Sunday, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Delivering aid to Gaza has become urgent as a humanitarian crisis there deepens. Israel unleashed an offensive following a deadly Hamas raid on Israel on October 7, and Gaza health officials say more than 30,700 people have been killed.
Numbers from the Gaza health ministry
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said two Palestinians, aged 15 and 72, died of dehydration and malnutrition on Wednesday, raising the toll of such deaths to 20. Reuters could not verify the deaths.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was due in Cyprus late Thursday and was to visit the port of Larnaca on Friday. The port has been identified as a launch point for aid shipments.
Cyprus lies 370 km (230 miles) northwest of Gaza in the Mediterranean and is the closest European Union state to the region.