Israel-Gaza: Aid supplies arrive on Gaza coast in first sea shipment

The first maritime humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza have landed on shore.

World Central Kitchen (WCK), a US charity that supports this mission, is working with the United Arab Emirates to carry out the mission.

The shipment contained 200 tonnes of food desperately needed in Gaza, which the United Nations claims is on the brink of starvation.

Aid agencies have accused Israel of obstructing the delivery of aid, a charge that Israeli officials vehemently deny.

They argue that Israel allows aid to pass through its two southern borders and blame aid agencies for logistical failures.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed in an Israeli military operation that began after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.

More than 31,400 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.

The shipment arrived on the Spanish charity ship Open Arms on Saturday. The cargo includes beans, carrots, canned tuna, chickpeas, canned corn, parboiled rice, flour, oil, salt and pallets of dates, which have spiritual significance during Ramadan.

It was being inspected by Israeli authorities at a port in Cyprus.

This means the start of trials to see if sea routes are more effective than air or land delivery.

Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that no relief option is more effective than land transport, but say Israeli regulations mean they receive only a fraction of what is needed.

“All cargo has been unloaded and preparations are underway for delivery in Gaza,” WCK said in a statement.

Teams worked through the night to deliver aid to land.

Gaza does not have a functioning port, so a hastily constructed pier on the coastline was constructed by a WCK team using rubble from destroyed buildings.

But the U.N. relief agency says there are major obstacles to getting aid to people who need it, and few details are known about how aid distribution will work.

Previously, WCK founder and famous chef Jose Andres said, I wrote to X (Former Twitter) reported that all food aid from the barge was loaded onto 12 trucks.

“We did it!” He added that this was a test to see if the next shipment could carry even more aid (up to “thousands of tons a week”).

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it had sent troops to secure the coastline.

The delivery had been highly anticipated since the ship left Larnaca port on Tuesday.

“The first ship has started returning to Cyprus and we are ready to dispatch the second ship,” Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides told reporters.

A second cargo ship is waiting at the port of Larnaca with 240 tonnes of aid supplies, including bulk products, waiting for the signal to depart.

WCK also said it will carry two forklifts and a crane to support future maritime transport to Gaza.

If this maritime mission is deemed a success, other aid vessels are likely to follow suit as part of an international effort to obtain more aid for Gaza. Ships will use the newly opened route to travel directly to the region.

Separately, the United States plans to build its own floating docks off its coast to enhance maritime transport. The White House has said 2 million meals a day could enter Gaza, but questions remain about the logistics of the plan, although warships are sailing with equipment to build the pier. There is.

The World Food Program had to temporarily suspend ground transportation after its convoy came under fire and looting. And last week, the drop from the sky turned deadly, with five people reportedly killed after their parachutes failed and they were affected by the aid package.

Israeli forces continue to carry out attacks across the Gaza Strip, with reports that at least 36 people were killed in an attack on a house near Nuseyrat refugee camp in central Gaza.

This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans for an attack on the southern city of Rafah, which is home to more than a million displaced people.

Negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza are scheduled to resume on Sunday. On Friday, Israel rejected Hamas’ latest proposal.

Hamas said it had given mediators a “comprehensive vision” for a ceasefire, but Prime Minister Netanyahu criticized it as “unrealistic.”

Israeli spy chief David Balnea will meet with the Qatari prime minister and Egyptian officials in Doha on Sunday to resolve “the rift that remains between Israel and Hamas.”