200 Tons Aid reach Gaza via new sea route
In an effort to open a sea route from Cyprus that would bring more aid to ease the humanitarian crisis in the enclave five months into Israel and Hamas’s conflict, a ship carrying 200 tons of aid approached the coast of Gaza on Friday.
The ship, operated by the Spanish humanitarian organization Open Arms, departed Cyprus on Tuesday while pulling a barge filled with food donated by the celebrity chef José Andrés’ charity, World Central Kitchen. It was observable off the coast of Gaza on Friday morning.
Israel has been facing mounting pressure to permit additional aid to reach Gaza following a five-month conflict between Hamas and Israel. Along with other nations, the US has begun airdropping supplies to the remote area of northern Gaza and has made separate plans to build a pier to allow humanitarian aid to enter the area.
The enormous volumes of aid required in Gaza, according to aid organizations, can only be delivered much less effectively by sea shipments and airdrops. Rather, the organizations have urged Israel to ensure secure routes for truck convoys, as land transfers have become almost unfeasible due to military limitations, continuous hostilities, and the disarray that followed the majority of the Hamas-run police force disappearing from the streets. Since the start of the conflict, there have been far fewer supply trucks entering Gaza each day than there were before October 7.
Six relief trucks were permitted to enter the north directly by Israel earlier this week, a move that humanitarian organizations had long demanded.Since the beginning of the conflict, World Central Kitchen has run 65 kitchens throughout Gaza, serving 32 million meals, according to the organization. Rice, flour, lentils, beans, tuna, and canned meat are among the supplies provided, according to Linda Roth, a spokesman for World Central Kitchen.
It intends to disperse the food in the north, which has been mainly cut off by Israeli forces since October and was the heavily damaged target of Israel’s initial offensive in Gaza. Despite Israeli evacuation orders, up to 300,000 Palestinians are thought to have stayed there; in recent weeks, many of them have even resorted to eating animal feed.
After the aid on the first ship is unloaded and distributed, a second ship loaded with even more aid will sail for Gaza, according to Cyprus’ Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos. He said it depends in part on how well the Open Arms delivery goes, but he would not say when the second vessel would depart.
The attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, which claimed 1,200 lives and left another 250 hostages in Gaza, set off the Israel-Hamas conflict. Over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed and the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been forced from their homes by Israel’s offensive. The UN estimates that a quarter of Gaza’s population is starving.
Hours after the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza claimed that Israeli forces had attacked close to an aid distribution point in northern Gaza, killing 20 people and wounding 155 more, the ship was visible from the coast. These reports, according to the Israeli military, “are false,” and it is investigating the incident “with the thoroughness that it deserves.”
According to the health ministry, late on Thursday, Israeli shelling struck a group that was waiting for help close to the Kuwaiti roundabout.
On February 29, 118 Palestinians were killed in fighting around an aid convoy in northern Gaza. According to the Israeli military, some of its forces opened fire on members of the crowd who were moving in their direction. Numerous deaths, according to witnesses and hospital officials, were caused by gunshot wounds. According to the Israeli military, a stampede over the food and people being run over by aid trucks were the main causes of the casualties.
Following that, preparations for the maritime route began to take shape, and Jordan was joined by the US and other nations in delivering aid into the north via aircraft.
However, residents of northern Gaza claim that the airdrops are not enough to address the enormous need. Suwar Baroud, 24, who was displaced by the fighting and is currently in Gaza City, claimed that many people are unable to access the aid because of fighting over it. She mentioned that some people hoard it and then sell it in the market.
Five people died when a recent malfunctioning airdrop fell out of the sky.
According to 27-year-old Riham Abu al-Bid, another drop ended up in a sewage and garbage dump. According to her, men ran in but were unable to get anything.
“I wish these airdrops never happened and that our dignity and freedom would be taken into consideration, so we can get our sustenance in a dignified way and not in a manner that is so humiliating,” she said.
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