A ship carrying tonnes of food for Gaza remained docked in a Cyprus port as preparations were underway to launch a maritime corridor to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
The humanitarian organisation World Central Kitchen teams are in Larnaca, Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid onto a boat headed to northern Gaza.
Almost 200 tonnes of food are loaded on the boat Open Arms, eady to sail for Gaza.
“We have been preparing for weeks alongside our trusted NGO partner Open Arms for the opening of a maritime aid corridor that would allow us to scale our efforts in the region. We are also working with the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, and the international community in this initiative that will help ensure as many meals as possible reach Palestinian families facing starvation,” says the organisation.
WCK has provided more than 32 million meals to people in Gaza.
The WCK team in Cyprus is loading needed supplies—rice, flour, legumes, canned vegetables, and canned proteins—onto the Open Arms boat. From Cyprus, the supplies will make the journey to northern Gaza, after clearing an Israeli security checkpoint.
However, the timing on the departure for the aid was unclear.
Meanwhile, the US Army has dispatched a logistics support ship carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies.
To remind, the United States announced an emergency mission led by the U.S. military to establish a temporary pier in Gaza, in coordination with humanitarian partners and other countries, to enable the delivery of significant quantities of assistance by sea.
These efforts will be closely coordinated with the Government of Israel.
With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza becoming increasingly desperate, international players are scrambling to find alternative routes to supply aid.
The U.S. Central Command conducted a humanitarian assistance airdrop into Northern Gaza. It dropped over 27,600 U.S. meal equivalents and 25,900 bottles of water into Northern Gaza, an area of great need, allowing for civilian access to the critical aid.
