A ship conveying a barge loaded with food has arrived off Gaza on Friday, according to witness reports. This is as a test run for a new aid route by sea from Cyprus into the ravaged Palestinian enclave where famine looms after five months of Israel’s military campaign had begun.
The ship, organised by the World Central Kitchen -WCK charity, is transporting almost 200 tonnes of aid to be delivered via a jetty being prepared in Gaza, with a second ship expected to launch sail soon.
There are some details on how the aid delivery and distribution will work once it is prepared to unload in Gaza, with U.N. relief agencies having narrated the huge obstacles to getting relief supplies to those in need.
If this new sea route is successful, it will go a long way in helping to ease the hunger crisis affecting Gaza, where so many of the population faces malnourishment and hospitals in the worst-stricken northern areas have made reports of children dying of starvation.
It should be noted, however, that bringing in aid by sea and through air drops will not be sufficient to make up for the difficulties getting in supplies by land, aid agencies have continuously said.
The war in Gaza began on October 7 when Hamas fighters charged into Israel, killing 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages according to Israeli calculations.
Israel’s air and ground campaign has killed over 31,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, and have driven most of the population from their homes, pushing the enclave towards food scarcity.
