The ship Open Arms docked at the Cypriot port of Larnaca.
– | Afp | Getty Images
An aid ship was approaching the coastline of the Gaza Strip on Friday with much-needed supplies for the Palestinian people, as aid groups warned that thousands in the besieged enclave were on the brink of starvation.
The ship – called Open Arms and run by a Spanish charity of the same name – is carrying around 200 metric tons of supplies, including flour, rice and water, from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus. Video from the AFP news agency showed the ship visible off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, London time.
The detour comes as many food and aid trucks await permission to enter the Gaza Strip either through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which borders Israel and Gaza, or through the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt and Gaza .
Israel last year agreed to work with Cyprus to establish a maritime aid corridor between the European Union member and the Gaza Strip. Earlier this month, Israel’s Foreign Ministry he said he welcomed the finalization of the initiative, which he said would “allow for an increase in humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, after security checks are carried out according to Israeli standards”.
Juliette Touma, director of communications at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said the lack of humanitarian access had significantly worsened the situation in northern Gaza.
“Here hunger has been detected. We could have prevented this situation, it’s a man-made situation,” he told CNBC.
“The fact that parts of northern Gaza [are] on the brink of famine, could have been prevented if more humanitarian supplies, including especially food, had been allowed to travel to the North on a regular basis.’
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza stated that, as of March 12, 27 people had died of malnutrition and dehydration in hospitals in the north of the enclave, of which 23 were children.
There was a 50 percent drop in aid trucks to the Gaza Strip in February compared to the previous month, according to Nebal Farsakh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent.
“If there was an item that the Israeli authorities believe should not come in, they will stop the entire truck and send it back without telling us the item that was denied access,” Farsakh told CNBC from the West Bank.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and food supplies at the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Israel-Gaza border.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Israeli authorities inspect all aid convoys entering the Rafah crossing, and the process is lengthy, Farsakh said. “Thousands of trucks are still waiting at the Rafah crossing, but they have to be approved by the Israeli authorities.”
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said it continues to expand its efforts to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. “The IDF is making a great effort to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid and is acting to enable such entry in a safe and coordinated manner,” the spokesman told CNBC.
“A ship carrying humanitarian aid from the WCK (World Central Kitchen) organization and funded by the United Arab Emirates sailed on Tuesday from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus to the Gaza Strip. This was done in coordination with Israeli security and civilian authorities, at the direction of the government of Israel and at the request of the US government,” the spokesman added.
THEn X social networking sitethe IDF also accuses Hamas of aid diversion, which the Palestinian militant group denies.
Blocking aid
Several humanitarian and non-governmental organizations have accused Israel of deliberately targeting aid convoys and workers at the Rafah crossing.
“On three separate occasions, our convoys were hit either on their way to or from the North. In all three separate incidents, the Israeli military was responsible. Therefore, getting to the North is extremely difficult,” UNRWA said. Touma said.
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s commissioner-general, said this week X that a truckload of aid “was just turned back because it had scissors used in children’s medical kits”.
The Israeli military says the scissors are “dual-use” and are used by Hamas as weapons.
Earlier this month, Refugees International released one report which claims that Israel is preventing relief supplies from entering the Gaza Strip.
Jesse Marks of the US-based humanitarian organization told CNBC that while their report is detailed, it “reinforces what most humanitarian and UN agencies know, that Israeli behavior has consistently hampered aid organizations in Gaza and has prevent legitimate aid efforts from moving forward.”
Global aid campaigns
Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip followed an October 7 Hamas terror attack in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 240 hostages.
Israel’s subsequent shelling of the enclave and the lack of aid in the area have led to growing calls for a worsening humanitarian crisis. It has led countries and organizations from around the world to step up their efforts to bring food into the Gaza Strip by both air and sea.
The United States and Jordan have carried out humanitarian flights from planes, although they have been criticized by Aid groups called them “ineffective” due to Israel’s land blockade.
This photo taken from Israel’s southern border with the Gaza Strip shows a military aircraft dropping humanitarian aid over Palestinian territory on March 12, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
Menahem Kahana | AFP | Getty Images
Morocco too sent 40 metric tons of humanitarian supplies through Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, in the latest effort to find new avenues of aid to the Strip.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the UN World Food Program used a new land route to deliver six truckloads of food directly to northern Gaza for the first time since February 20.
The charity Open Arms, which works with chef José Andrés’ organization World Central Kitchen, said it was working to create a “vital entry route” into the Gaza Strip for food and essentials.
“Although this mission is extremely complex, it is undeniably necessary. Our vessel, Open Arms, is equipped with tons of food and water and our dedicated crew are ready to help the most vulnerable,” the charity said in a statement.
UNRWA’s Touma said while these international efforts were welcome, “there are effective, easier, cheaper, safer and more reliable ways to get aid to the people of Gaza. And this is through the road through the increase in the number of trucks that the Israeli authorities are allowed to travel to Gaza by road.”
While providing assistance on the ground remains a challenge, the United States announced that a a temporary pier will be constructed off the coast of Gaza.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken he said that, when construction is complete, the pier “will enable the distribution of up to 2 million meals each day, as well as medicine, water.”
However, he stressed that this is not a substitute for handing over land and that, “Israel must open as many access points as possible and keep them open.”
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