From Cyprus to Gaza: “Open Arms” ship arrives with humanitarian aid – 2024-03-15 15:58:27

A first ship laden with food headed for the Gaza Strip today, where the population faces starvation in addition to shelling and stray fire as the Israel/Hamas war enters its sixth month, with no prospect of even a truce on the horizon. .

Faced with the inadequacy of aid reaching the largely leveled Palestinian enclave by land routes, the international community is trying to diversify supply routes, moving ahead with airdrops and a pilot project to create a sea corridor, from Cyprus in the Gaza Strip.

Ship chartered by Spanish NGO Open Arms, loaded with 200 tons of food, left Larnaca yesterday, taking the corridor that the EU and various other countries are seeking to establish. It is expected to arrive in “a few days” on the shores of the Gaza Strip, said Laura Lanutha, a spokeswoman for Open Arms.

According to the specialist website Vessel Finder, the ship, moving at very low speed, was still 155 nautical miles (285 km) from the coast of Gaza. Cyprus, the EU country closest to the Palestinian enclave than any other, has assured that a second, “much larger” shipment is being prepared.

In Gaza, the population is desperately waiting for more aid, among other things to bring down the prices of the scarce food in the markets that are still functioning, such as “katagef” (small crepes that are eaten a lot at iftar, the dinners that break the fasting of Ramadan). The holy month of fasting and prayer for Muslims began this week.

“Demand is very low, due to high prices. Last year, the price of a kilogram of katagef was 6 shekels (1.5 euros). Today, you feel ashamed, you feel like crying when you have to tell the world that a kilo of katagef costs 20 shekels,” explained Muhammad al-Mashal, who sells the traditional edsma.

“New Corridor”

In addition to the departure of the Open Arms ship from Cyprus, four US Navy vessels departed yesterday Tuesday from USAwith about a hundred military men and the necessary equipment to set up a quay at Gaza Strip so that humanitarian aid can be delivered. The trip will take about 30 days, and the facility is expected to be ready “within 60 days,” according to Washington.

But sending aid by sea and airdrops, which have become commonplace recently, are not enough to replace land routes, the UN and others stress.

“When we consider alternative routes to help, by sea or from the airwaves, we must remember that we need to do so because land routes are usually closed. Artificially closed,” said the head of European diplomacy yesterday Giuseppe Borrell.

“Depriving the population of food is used as a weapon of war,” according to him.

For its part, the Israeli army announced at night another “pilot project” which it said yesterday allowed the entry of six trucks aided by the World Food Program (WFP) into the northern Gaza Strip, for the first time since the outbreak of war.

Since the start of its ongoing large-scale operations, the Israeli army has been conducting thorough checks on aid entering the Gaza Strip through terminals in the southern part of the enclave. Until now, it has not responded to repeated calls to open more crossing points, especially in the north.

“We’ll finish the job”

Defying international appeals and pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to declare that the attack against Hamas will reach Rafah, the last stronghold of the Palestinian Islamist movement. 1.5 million Palestinians are now crammed into this city, most of them displaced by war, many more than once.

“Let me be clear: the Israel he will prevail in this war at any cost. And to win this war, Israel must destroy the last ranks of Hamas in Rafah,” because if it doesn’t “Hamas will regroup to retake Gaza and then we’ll be back to square one,” Mr. Netanyahu insisted. via video conference addressing the powerful American Jewish lobby AIPAC.

“We will finish the job,” said the head of the Israeli government, who vowed to “eliminate” Hamas after the attack launched on the morning of October 7 by its military arm in southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. The attack killed at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data.

Hamas members also took some 250 hostages and drove them to the enclave, where it is believed to still hold about half, although more than three dozen are believed to be dead.

In retaliation, the Israeli military launched a massive air, land and sea bombardment of the enclave where Hamas has ruled since 2007 and twenty days later began ground operations; to date, at least 31,184 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.

“War on Children”

More children have been killed in the Israel/Hamas war in four months than in all other armed conflicts around the world in four years, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said yesterday.

“Dizzy. The number of children reported killed in just over four months in Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in all wars combined in the last four years,” Filipe Lazzarini underlined via X (formerly Twitter), complaining this “war on children”.

Staggering. The number of children reported killed in just over 4 months in #Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in 4 years of wars around the world combined.

This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future.#ceasefireNow for the… pic.twitter.com/tYwSNHecpy

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 12, 2024

Despite weeks of negotiations, the mediating countries—Qatar, Egypt, the U.S.—could not secure a cease-fire agreement that would allow the release of Israeli hostages and in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as well as an increase in the amount of aid coming in. in the pouch.

“We are not close to an agreement”, the spokesman of Qatar’s diplomacy, Majid al-Ansari, acknowledged yesterday, as Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to conclude an agreement, meeting the categorical rejection of Israel, which from its own side demands to be given a detailed list of the hostages who remain alive.

Yesterday the Israeli authorities announced the death of a soldier held captive in the Gaza Strip, Itai Chen, who also had American citizenship.

In East Jerusalem, 12-year-old Rami Hamdan al-Khalhouli succumbed to his injuries yesterday after being hit by bullets from Israeli security forces.

It was the first fatality in incidents in the city, holy to believers of three faiths, since Ramadan began.

And overnight in al-Jib, near Jerusalem, two Palestinians, aged 16 and 23, were killed in clashes with Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Video conference on the humanitarian corridor

A teleconference of the participants in the initiative for the maritime humanitarian corridor to Gaza, namely Cyprus, the USA, Britain, the European Commission, the United Arab Emirates, is expected to take place today, at the level of Foreign Ministers, as President Nikos Christodoulidis said.

He also said that technocrats from all participating countries will be hosted in Cyprus, so that the next steps can be promoted.

The President expressed his satisfaction at the launch of the initiative, saying that it highlights the importance of Cyprus in the region and added that the effort will continue with the sole aim of providing much-needed humanitarian aid.

The Open Arms ship left yesterday at around 9.00 am for Gaza and it is estimated that its journey will take two days.

Source: RES-MPE