Emergency relief supplies arrived in the Gaza Strip via sea on Saturday, a charity organization said on Saturday, ahead of the scheduled resumption of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.
Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen announced that its ground team in Gaza has finished unloading the first sea delivery. The Times of Israel reported. “All cargo has been unloaded and is being prepared for delivery in Gaza,” the group said.
The group added that the delivery contained “approximately 200 tonnes of food.”
To compensate for the lack of ports, World Central Kitchen has built a temporary pier to allow barges access to Gaza, according to the Times of Israel.
There is little information available on how exactly food is distributed to civilians in Gaza.
The charity said a second ship carrying 240 tonnes of food aid, as well as two forklifts and a crane to accommodate future deliveries, was ready to set sail from Cyprus.
Much-needed food has arrived as stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Qatar as early as Sunday, Egyptian officials said.
The new talks will be the first time Israeli officials and Hamas leaders have participated in negotiations since the start of Ramadan last Monday.
International mediators had initially hoped to reach a six-week agreement before the start of the Islamic holy month, but Hamas and Israel clashed over the proposed terms.
Hamas leaders have proposed a new ceasefire that includes the release of women, children, elderly and sick Israeli hostages in exchange for 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including at least 100 with life sentences.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure as Gaza residents face severe food shortages, said the proposed ceasefire remains based on “unrealistic demands”.
CNN reported Israel’s war cabinet was scheduled to meet Saturday night to draw up guidelines for the Israeli delegation taking part in the talks, the sources said.
The latest round of talks will begin amid news that one in three children under the age of two in the Gaza Strip suffers from acute malnutrition. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
“Child malnutrition is rapidly spreading in #Gaza, reaching unprecedented levels,” a leading agency working in the enclave wrote on X. “Famine is approaching.”
The agency also believes that more children have been killed in the region in the past five months than in four years of global conflict. According to reports.
In other developments:
- The US is trying to stop Iran from smuggling weapons to the Houthi fight in Yemen, but has limited resources. The Washington Post reported.
- Gaza’s Hamas-affiliated health ministry said the death toll since the war began in October exceeded 31,553. The Times of Israel said:. An additional 37 people were killed in an airstrike in central Gaza on Friday night, 35 of them from the same family, CNN reported.
with post wire
