Boat with aid readied in Cyprus as Gaza fighting rages before Ramadan
A boat carrying desperately needed aid for war-ravaged Gaza, where the UN has repeatedly warned of famine, prepared to sail from Cyprus as deadly fighting raged yesterday 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.
“The volume of aid delivered will do little to stave off famine in Gaza
A US charity, World Central Kitchen, said it was loading aid 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 today.
“Our tugboat stands prepared to embark at a moment’s notice,” said Open Arms, an NGO partner in the effort.
With ground access limited, 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.
The health ministry in Hamasrun Gaza said three more children had died from malnutrition and dehydration, with the total of such deaths now 23.
Another 82 people were killed in strikes over the previous day, the ministry said, bringing the number of fatalities in Israel’s bombardment and ground offensive of Gaza to 30,960, mostly women and children.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign to destroy Hamas began after the movement’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to Israeli official figures.
The United Nations World Food Programme has warned that the volume of aid that can be delivered by sea will do little if anything to stave off famine in Gaza.
Still, the aid vessel was preparing in the Cypriot port of Larnaca.
“World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid onto a boat headed to northern Gaza,” it said in a statement.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, in Larnaca on Friday, said a “pilot operation” would be launched in partnership with World Central Kitchen, and expressed hope the maritime corridor could open today, supported by aid from the United Arab Emirates. Details remained unclear. Senior United States administration officials said an effort announced on Thursday by President Joe Biden for a “temporary pier” to receive aid off Gaza builds upon the maritime corridor proposed by Cyprus.