Food aid to Gaza sent by sea from Cyprus
A SPANISH Charity ship taking food aid to Gaza left the Mediterranean island of Cyprus yesterday in an attempt to open a maritime corridor to the war-ravaged and besieged Palestinian territory.
The vessel Open Arms set sail towing a barge loaded with 200 tons of relief goods and was expected to arrive off Gaza, about 400km away, today.
“The departure of the first ship is a sign of hope,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on social media platform X.
Heavy Israeli bombardment again rained down on Gaza, killing at least 80 people overnight, with dozens more missing under the rubble, said the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
“At least 80 martyrs arrived at hospitals, the majority of whom were children, women and the elderly, as a result of the occupation (Israel) committing massacres against civilians,” it said in a statement.
The Israeli army said its forces were raiding targets across Gaza and had located a military compound in the main southern city of Khan Yunis where they found “AK-47 rifles, vests and explosive devices”.
The war and siege since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel have levelled vast parts of the strip and sparked dire food shortages leading the UN World Food Programme to warn that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza.
As the flow of aid trucks from Egypt has slowed – a trend blamed on the war, growing insecurity on the ground and cumbersome Israeli inspections of cargo – Western and Arab governments have stepped up airdrops. However, UN and other relief agencies warn that parachuting in aid parcels falls far short of the hundreds of truck loads needed every day to sustain the population of 2.4 million people.
The humanitarian crisis has gripped Gaza at a time when Muslims have since Monday observed the holy month of Ramadaan. In Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where 1.5 million people have sought refuge in crowded shelters and makeshift tents, one displaced man, Mohammad al-Masry, said this year the family had just “canned food and beans”. Another displaced man, Om Muhammad Abu Matar from Khan Yunis, said that this year, Ramadaan has “the taste of blood and misery, separation and oppression”.
The war started with the October 7 Hamas attack that resulted in about 1 160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians. The militants also took around 250 hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes 99 hostages remain alive in Gaza, with 31 dead.
Israel’s retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive have killed 31112 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Weeks of talks involving US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators failed to bring about a truce and hostage exchange deal ahead of Ramadaan.
UN chief Antonio Guterres called for “silencing the guns” during Ramadaan and said he was “appalled and outraged that conflict is continuing”.
Hamas has demanded a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a demand labelled “delusional” by Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed, despite growing domestic and international opposition, to push on with the war to destroy Hamas and free the hostages.
Asked about apparent growing friction between him and US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu said “we have our agreements on the basic goals, but also disagreements on how to achieve them. Ultimately, Israel has to decide.”
The worst Gaza war, now in its sixth month, has stoked anger and protests worldwide, most of them against Israel. It has also sparked clashes involving Israel’s regional enemies, a coalition of Iran-backed armed groups dubbed the Axis of Resistance including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Hezbollah said yesterday it had launched more than 100 rockets at Israeli military positions in retaliation for a strike the previous day that killed one person near the Lebanon city of Baalbek. Israel’s military said its “fighter jets struck three launchers used to fire rockets” towards the Golan Heights.
The Israel-Hezbollah clashes have killed at least 317 people in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah fighters, and at least 17 Israeli soldiers and civilians.
Yemen’s Houthis have been attacking ships on the key Red Sea trade route leading towards the Suez Canal, in professed solidarity with the Palestinians.