The first humanitarian aid ship to reach the Gaza Strip from Cyprus began unloading its cargo on the coast of the Palestinian territory on Friday March 15, according to the NGO in charge of the operation.

A first aid ship plying a new maritime corridor from Cyprus began unloading its cargo of desperately needed food in Gaza Friday as Hamas proposed a new six-week truce in the war.

AFP footage showed the Open Arms, which set sail from Cyprus on Tuesday, towing a barge that the Spanish charity operating it says is loaded with 200 tonnes of food for Gazans threatened with famine after more than five months of war.

“World Central Kitchen is unloading the barge connected now to the jetty,” said Linda Roth, a spokesperson for the US charity that is working with Open Arms.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned of looming famine, with only a fraction of the supplies needed to sustain Gaza’s 2.4 million people being let in.

With fewer aid trucks entering by road, efforts have multiplied to get relief in by air and sea.

Cyprus, the nearest European Union member country to Gaza, has said a second, bigger vessel is being readied for the fledgling maritime air corridor after the Open Arms completes its mission.

“God willing, they will bring food for the children, that’s all we ask for”, Abu Issa Ibrahim Filfil, a displaced Palestinian told AFPTV after spotting the ship from the beach.

Sea missions and airdrops are “no alternative” to the more effective land deliveries, 25 organisations including Amnesty International and Oxfam said in a statement this week.

Israel has accused some staff of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA — the main aid organisation in Gaza — of involvement in the October 7 attack. This led several donor governments to suspend support.

With AFP