An effort to get aid to Gaza by sea is moving ahead, but the first ship is still waiting
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A U.S. Army vessel carrying equipment to build a temporary pier in Gaza was heading to the Mediterranean on Sunday, after U.S. President Joe Biden announced plans to increase aid deliveries by sea to the besieged enclave where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are going hungry.
The new push for aid came as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was set to begin Monday in much of the world after officials in Saudi Arabia saw the crescent moon. Hopes for a new cease-fire by Ramadan faded days ago with nego- tiations apparently stalled.
The opening of the sea cor- ridor, along with airdrops by the U.S., Jordan and others, reflected growing alarm over Gaza’s deadly humanitar- ian crisis and a new willing- ness to bypass Israeli control over land shipments. But aid officials say that air and sea deliveries can’t make up for a shortage of land routes. Aid trucks entering Gaza daily are far below the 500 enter- ing before the war.
A ship belonging to Span- ish aid group Open Arms and carrying 200 tons of food aid was expected to make a pilot voyage to Gaza from nearby Cyprus “as soon as possible,” but not Sunday, said Linda Roth, a spokes- person for partner organization World Central Kitchen. There was no explanation after Cyprus’ president had
it would leave then. Israel says it welcomes the sea deliveries and would inspect Gaza-bound cargo before it leaves Cyprus. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant reviewed prepara- tory work off Gaza’s coast on Sunday.
Biden has stepped up pub- lic criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he believes that Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in his approach to the Israel-hamas war in Gaza, now in its sixth month.
Speaking on Saturday to MSNBC, the U.S. president expressed support for Israel’s right to pursue Hamas after the militants’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. But Biden said that Netanyahu “must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost.” He added that “you cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead.”
The Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 31,045 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. The ministry doesn’t differen- tiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says that women and chil- dren make up two-thirds of the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and its figures from previous wars have largely matched those of U.N. and independent experts.
Palestinian casualties continued to rise. The Civil Defense Department said 10 people were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on a house of the Ashour family in the Tal al-hawa area of Gaza City. Dust-covered bodies were placed onto blankets.
Elsewhere, the bodies of 15 people, including women and children, were taken to the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-balah, according to an Associated Press journalist. Relatives said they were killed by Israeli artillery fire toward a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in the coastal area near the southern city Khan Younis.
Israel rarely comments on specific incidents during the war. It maintains that Hamas is responsible for civilian casualties, because the militant group operates from within civilian areas.