©Reuters. Humanitarian aid for Gaza is loaded onto a platform in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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LARNACA, Cyprus (Reuters) – By Yiannis Kourtoglou and Stamos Prousalis
A ship carrying tons of food for Gaza remained docked in a Cyprus port on Sunday as preparations were underway to launch an as yet untested maritime aid route to the enclave, where the United Nations estimates a quarter of the population is hungry.
The Open Arms, a rescue vessel, plans to tow a barge with 200 tons of food, financed largely by the United Arab Emirates. The supplies were provided by the charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), which works with the Spanish non-governmental organization Proactiva Open Arms.
WCK said it has another 500 tons of supplies in Cyprus, which will be sent on future missions.
However, the timing of the aid departure was unclear. Packing of the cargo was completed on Saturday evening, but a source said the departure was partly contingent on the creation of an improvised pier in Gaza to facilitate deliveries as the Strip has no port infrastructure.
WCK is now building that pier out of rubble.
“I hope @WCKitchen can provide a new way to increase food arrivals in Gaza… And it’s (sic) complicated… with so many unknowns and challenges,” said WCK founder Jose Andres, a Michelin star chef. social media platform
“But we never follow a plan, we adapt! And the plan writes itself as we go. And we will find the way.”
The pilot project plans to bring aid directly to Gaza, which has been isolated from the outside world since Israel began its offensive in response to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants.
This mission, if successful, would effectively mark the first easing of the Israeli naval blockade imposed on Gaza in 2007, after Hamas took control of the Palestinian enclave.
With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza becoming increasingly desperate, international actors are scrambling to find alternative ways to deliver aid.
The US military has sent a logistics ship carrying equipment, days after US President Joe Biden said the US would build a temporary dock to facilitate aid deliveries.
Cyprus said the cargoes will undergo security inspections in Cyprus by a team that includes Israel, eliminating the need for checks at the point of unloading to remove potential delays in aid deliveries.