A ship carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is scheduled to leave a Cypriot port on Saturday, bringing further aid to the area devastated by Israeli military operations.
The ship belongs to Spanish aid group Open Arms and will use a maritime corridor set up by international aid agencies to deliver more humanitarian aid to Gaza amid growing warnings that residents are starving. .
According to the Associated Press, the ship is awaiting permission from World Central Kitchen (WCK) to leave Larnaca port. WCK is an American charity led by celebrity chef Jose Andrés.
Open Arms ships are usually tasked with rescuing migrants at sea. The mission is part of a broader effort from organizations and countries to increase aid flows to Gaza as the humanitarian crisis worsens.
The US government also uses Cyprus to distribute aid to the region.
President Biden announced during Thursday’s State of the Union address that he has ordered the U.S. military to lead the construction of a port on the Mediterranean coast of Gaza. The port will accommodate large ships carrying food and other supplies. U.S. officials said the project would take several weeks to plan and execute, but would not require the U.S. to set foot on Gaza soil.
Israel approved the new corridor, but warned it had to meet “Israeli” standards.
“The Cypriot initiative will allow for the expansion of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, subject to security checks in accordance with Israeli standards,” Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lior Hayat said on Twitter previously. I wrote to known X.
On Friday, an airdrop of aid malfunctioned, hitting several homes and killing five people. Airdrops from the US were announced last Friday and the first was completed last Saturday, delivering 38,000 meals.
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