First vessel carrying aid leaves Cyprus for Gaza
NICOSIA: A ship loaded with 200 tons of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip left the port of Larnaca in southern Cyprus on Tuesday, a spokesman for the nongovernmental organization operating the vessel said.
“They have left,” Laura Lanuza from the Spanish charity group Open Arms told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The tow boat and barge embarked on the journey at about 8:50 a.m. (local time), the first such shipment along a maritime corridor from Cyprus aimed at carrying aid to desperate Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
With the volume of aid entering the battered territory by land far below prewar levels and aid agencies warning of famine, foreign governments, including Washington, have turned to airdrops and are now also trying to set up a maritime aid corridor.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said on X, formerly Twitter, that the inaugural voyage was “one of hope and humanity,” and would establish a “lifeline to civilians.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the ship’s departure for Gaza was a “sign of hope.”
“We will work hard together for many more ships to follow,” she posted on X. “We will do everything in our power for aid to reach Palestinians.”
Cyprus is the nearest European Union member state to Gaza and the bloc has thrown its support behind the island’s plans for the maritime aid corridor.
Open Arms is partnered by American charity organization World Central Kitchen, with the two operating the first shipment on Tuesday.
The aid dispatched for Gaza includes “rice, flour, legumes, canned veggies and proteins,” the World Central Kitchen said on X. “Our relief team is working to send as many aid boats as possible.”
World Central Kitchen has teams in the besieged Gaza Strip who were “constructing a dock” to unload the cargo, Lanuza told AFP last week.
The organizers have kept the location of the landing point secret for security reasons. The boat was expected to arrive off Gaza on Tuesday night or Wednesday.
Aid deliveries to Gaza by land have faced mounting obstacles, with Israel insisting on timeconsuming checks on cargoes and frequent bombardments hampering distribution, aid agencies and foreign governments have said.
Israel has blamed humanitarian organizations inside Gaza for being unable to efficiently distribute aid.
The US has said it will shore up the maritime corridor by building a “temporary pier” on the Gaza coast to receive relief supplies.