Charities prepared to transport aid from Cyprus by boat to Gaza
Charities prepared to transport aid from Cyprus by boat to Gaza
On March 10, 2024, a rescue ship from the Spanish non-governmental organization Open Arms is spotted at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. Yiannis Kourtoglou/REUTERS
LARNACA, Cyprus: On Sunday, May 10, a ship loaded with several hundred tonnes of food for Gaza was preparing to sail out of Cyprus, opening a new and unexplored sea channel to deliver relief to the enclave, where the UN estimates that 25% of the population is at risk of hunger.
200 tonnes of food will be towed by the salvage ship Open Arms, which is mostly being paid for by the United Arab Emirates. World Central Kitchen (WCK), a nonprofit organization that collaborates with the Spanish non-governmental organization Proactiva Open Arms, sourced the supplies.
500 more tonnes of supplies, according to WCK, are in Cyprus and will be sent on missions in the future.
Aid is to be delivered directly to Gaza as part of the experimental initiative. Since Israel started its offensive on October 7 in retaliation for a Hamas militant strike on Israel, Gaza has been cut off from the outside world.
Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus, stated late on Saturday that he anticipated the mission to begin "in the next 24 hours." His administration has been actively advocating for months to build a marine humanitarian route from the island to Gaza.
If this expedition is successful, it will essentially mark the beginning of the lifting of the Israeli naval blockade that was put in place on Gaza in 2007 following Hamas's takeover of the Palestinian enclave.
As the Gaza humanitarian catastrophe worsens,
Aid is to be delivered directly to Gaza as part of the experimental initiative. Since Israel started its offensive on October 7 in retaliation for a Hamas militant strike on Israel, Gaza has been cut off from the outside world.
Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus, stated late on Saturday that he anticipated the mission to begin "in the next 24 hours." His administration has been actively advocating for months to build a marine humanitarian route from the island to Gaza.
If this expedition is successful, it will essentially mark the beginning of the lifting of the Israeli naval blockade that was put in place on Gaza in 2007 following Hamas's takeover of the Palestinian enclave.
As the Gaza humanitarian catastrophe worsens,
International players are running around trying to find other ways to deliver relief as they become more and more desperate.
Days after US President Joe Biden said that the US will construct a temporary pier to expedite humanitarian delivery, the US Army sent out a logistics ship with equipment.
Due to Gaza's lack of port infrastructure, WCK said that it is constructing a landing jetty using debris and broken structures as building materials.
Days after US President Joe Biden said that the US will construct a temporary pier to expedite humanitarian delivery, the US Army sent out a logistics ship with equipment.
Due to Gaza's lack of port infrastructure, WCK said that it is constructing a landing jetty using debris and broken structures as building materials.
Cyprus claimed that its maritime corridor provides an expedited means of delivering relief to areas in need. A crew from Israel will assess cargo for security in Cyprus, removing the requirement for screenings at the site of final offloading and perhaps causing delays in assistance supplies.
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