By WAFAA SHURAFA (Associated Press)
WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip (AP) — A ship with 200 tons of aid is nearing the coast of Gaza to mark the beginning of a sea route from Cyprus to help reduce the humanitarian crisis in the enclave five months into the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The ship, operated by the Spanish aid group Open Arms, left Cyprus on Tuesday towing a barge loaded with food sent by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. It could be seen off Gaza’s coast Friday morning.
Israel has been under increasing pressure to allow more aid into Gaza. The United States has joined other countries in dropping supplies to the isolated region of northern Gaza and has announced separate plans to build a pier to bring in aid.
Aid groups said the airdrops and sea shipments are much less effective ways of delivering the huge amounts of aid needed in Gaza. Instead, the groups have called on Israel to ensure safe passages for truck convoys after land deliveries became nearly impossible due to military restrictions, ongoing hostilities, and the breakdown of order after the Hamas-run police force largely disappeared from the streets. The daily number of supply trucks entering Gaza since the conflict began has been far below the 500 that entered before Oct. 7.
Earlier in the week, Israel allowed six aid trucks to enter directly into the north, a step aid groups have long called for.
World Central Kitchen operates 65 kitchens across Gaza from where it has served 32 million meals since the conflict started, the group said. The aid includes rice, flour, lentils, beans, tuna, and canned meat, according to World Central Kitchen spokesperson Linda Roth.
It plans to distribute the food in the north, the largely devastated target of Israel’s initial offensive in Gaza, which has been mostly cut off by Israeli forces since October. Up to 300,000 Palestinians are believed to have remained there despite Israeli evacuation orders, with many reduced to eating animal feed in recent weeks. The aid is a small portion of what is needed, but the shipment was intended to pave the way for other larger shipments, officials working on the route have said.
A second vessel being loaded with even more aid will head to Gaza once the aid on the first ship is offloaded and distributed, Cyprus’ Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said. He declined to specify when the second vessel would leave, saying it depends in part on whether the Open Arms delivery goes smoothly.
The Israel-Hamas conflict was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and left another 250 taken into Gaza as hostages. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 31,000 Palestinians and driven most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents from their homes. A quarter of Gaza’s population is starving, according to the United Nations. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, and the European Union.
The ship could be seen from the coast hours after the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza accused Israeli forces of launching an attack near an aid distribution point in northern Gaza, killing 20 people and injuring 155 others.
According to the Israeli military, it was Palestinian gunmen who started shooting, and not any of its forces. The forces were guarding a convoy of 31 aid trucks. The military said no shots were fired at the gathering crowd or the convoy. It also mentioned that some people in the crowd were hit by the trucks.
The health ministry stated that a group waiting for aid near the Kuwaiti roundabout got hit by Israeli shelling on Thursday night.
The ministry reported that 149 people died in the past 24 hours, adding up to at least 31,490 Palestinians killed in the war. does not make a distinction between civilians and fighters in its count, but states females and kids form the majority of the dead.
Violence related to an aid convoy on Feb. 29 caused the death of 118 Palestinians in northern Gaza. The Israeli military mentioned that some of its forces shot at people in the crowd who were moving towards them. Witnesses and hospital officials said many casualties were from bullet wounds. The Israeli military stated that many casualties resulted from a stampede for the food and people being hit by the aid trucks. Following that, plans for the sea route were developed, and the United States and other countries joined Jordan in
delivering aid into the north by plane. However, people in northern Gaza claim the airdrops are not enough to meet the great need. Many cannot access the aid due to conflicts over it, said Suwar Baroud, 24, who was displaced by the fighting and is now in Gaza City. Some people hoard and sell it in the market, she said..
A recent airdrop malfunctioned and crashed from the sky, killing five people.
Another drop landed in a sewage and garbage dump, said Riham Abu al-Bid, 27. Men ran in but were unable to retrieve anything, she said.
“I hope these airdrops would never have happened and that our dignity and freedom would be taken into consideration, so we can get our sustenance in a respectful way and not in a manner that is so degrading,” she said.
The war has worsened tension in the region and raised the risk of broader violence.
At Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third-holiest site in Islam, the first Friday prayers during the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan were held without a major outbreak of protest or violence. The mosque has been a frequent flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian violence before. Hamas hopes a new eruption now would put more pressure on Israel and enhance the group’s bargaining power in cease-fire discussions.
Israel imposed restrictions that limited West Bank Palestinians’ access to the compound for Friday’s prayers to men over 55, women over 50, and children under 10. They also required all of them to have special permits. Palestinians without the permits were stopped from entering Jerusalem from the West Bank.
But The compound has long been a heavily disputed religious area, as it is located on the Temple Mount, which Jews consider their most sacred site. Find more of AP’s coverage at
https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
A ship carrying 200 tons of aid is nearing the coast of Gaza to launch a sea route from Cyprus. The ship was expected to arrive later on Friday. https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
