2024-03-17 07:49:42

A second aid ship prepares to sail from Cyprus to Gaza

A Cypriot official announced today (Saturday) that a second aid ship is preparing to sail from the port of Larnaca to the Gaza Strip through the sea corridor taken by a first ship that unloaded its cargo and sailed back to the island.

Cypriot Foreign Ministry spokesman Theodoros Goutsis told state radio that the second ship, named “Jennifer,” is preparing to sail to the Palestinian Strip “today (Saturday) or tomorrow” from the port of Larnaca.

He added, “Officials from the countries participating in the Cyprus initiative will meet next Thursday to discuss the next steps to increase the quantities and flights to Gaza,” according to Agence France-Presse.

The American charitable organization World Central Kitchen said that the ship “Jennifer” was carrying 240 tons of food, but bad weather conditions made it difficult to predict when it would sail to Gaza and when the first ship, “Open Arms,” would make its return trip.

The process of loading humanitarian aid intended for Gaza onto a ship in the port of Larnaca in Cyprus (World Central Kitchen account on X)

She explained, in a statement: “Marine weather reports show bad weather from Sunday until the end of next week, so the specific date for either ship to sail back to Gaza is not available at the present time.”

The organization had previously confirmed that the ship belonging to the Spanish charity Open Arms had unloaded its cargo of 200 tons of food in preparation for its distribution in the besieged sector.

She explained that the second ship carries 240 tons of aid, including canned goods, grains, rice, oil and salt, in addition to “120 kilograms of fresh dates from the United Arab Emirates for the residents of Gaza.”

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters: “The first ship (Open Arms) has begun to return, and we are ready to send a second ship loaded with aid” to the Strip.

The process of loading humanitarian aid intended for Gaza onto a ship in the port of Larnaca in Cyprus (World Central Kitchen account on X)

The first Open Arms ship set off through the sea corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, as the international community seeks to increase the amount of aid entering the Strip in light of the war that has been ongoing for more than 5 months between Israel and the Hamas movement.

Famine now threatens most of the population of the besieged and devastated Strip, which numbers 2.4 million people, according to the United Nations.

While most of the population was displaced by war and destruction and moved towards the south, relief agencies say that regarding 300,000 of those who remained in the northern areas of Gaza are the ones who suffer most from hunger, water shortages and malnutrition, and are difficult to reach.

World Central Kitchen explained that it has named its operation, which it is carrying out with the UAE and the Open Arms organisation, “Operation Ship” with the support of the Cyprus government.

The organization said that it has been calling since October for “providing more access points to Gaza for humanitarian aid.”

She explained: “We have (so far) provided more than 37 million meals, sent more than 1,500 trucks, and opened more than 60 community kitchens throughout Gaza,” pointing out that she will provide food by air for airdrops of aid during Ramadan.

She added: “By land, we continue to send packed trucks from our warehouses in Cairo to locations in Gaza.”

The war broke out following an unprecedented attack carried out by the Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, on October 7, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, according to a census conducted by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli data.

Israel confirms that there are still 130 hostages in Gaza, 32 of whom are believed to have been killed, out of regarding 250 kidnapped in the attack.

In response to the Hamas attack, Israel vowed to eliminate the movement and launched a military campaign that left massive destruction and regarding 31,500 dead, most of them civilians. Women and children, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Health in Gaza, on Friday.

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