A boat carrying desperately needed aid for war-ravaged Gaza, where the UN has repeatedly warned of famine, was prepared to sail from Cyprus as deadly fighting raged on Saturday between Israeli troops and Hamas militants ahead of Ramadan.
The sea route aims to counter access restrictions, which humanitarians and Western governments have blamed on Israel, more than five months into the war, which has left Gaza’s 2.4 million people struggling to survive, particularly in the Palestinian territory’s north.
A US charity said it was loading aid for Gaza onto a boat in Cyprus — the closest European Union country to Gaza — in the first shipment along a maritime corridor the EU Commission hopes will open on Sunday.
“The endeavor to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor in Gaza is making progress, and our tugboat stands prepared to embark at a moment’s notice, laden with tons of food, water, and vital supplies for Palestinian civilians,” said Open Arms, an NGO partner in the effort, on social media platform X.
With limited ground access, countries have also turned to airdrops of aid. Canada became the latest to say it would join such missions, but a parachute malfunction turned one delivery deadly on Friday. It was not clear which country had undertaken the lethal airdrop.
Humanitarian workers and UN officials say easing the entry of trucks to Gaza would be more effective than aid airdrops or sea shipments.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in Larnaca on Friday that a “pilot operation” would be launched in partnership with World Central Kitchen and expressed hope the maritime corridor could open on Sunday, supported by aid from the United Arab Emirates.
Details remained unclear.
There are no functioning ports in Gaza, and officials did not say where the initial shipments would go, whether they would be subject to inspection by Israel, or who would distribute aid.
The Pentagon said on Friday that a US plan to establish a “temporary offshore maritime pier” in Gaza would take up to 60 days and would likely involve more than 1,000 American personnel.
With AFP
