200 tons of foodstuffs have been loaded onto the barge bound for Gaza.
200 tons of food is a lot, but little in the scale of Gaza’s need for aid.
However, the Open Arms barge with its cargo is a sign of attempts to get aid supplies to Gaza even started. In Gaza, more than 300,000 people are in need of immediate emergency assistance.
The barge is scheduled to cover a distance of just under 210 nautical miles along the EU-supported sea corridor to Gaza. The aid transport is supposed to leave Cyprus by tomorrow Monday morning.
Another shipload in preparation
The trip to Gaza is estimated to last a few days.
The Spanish-owned barge is equipped, among others, by the Spanish aid organization Open Arms and the American organization World Central Kitchen. The Open Arms ship has been in Larnaca for three weeks.
– The cargo is protein, flour, tuna and rice, a total of 200 tons, says a WCK spokesperson in an email interview to from Washington Chloe Mata Crane.
Beans, peas and canned vegetables are also loaded onto the ship.
According to Crane, the second, 500-ton cargo will also be ready for the trip soon. The departure is preceded by a paper war, the inspection of travel permits and other documents.
Cyprus port authorities inspect the cargo before leaving Larnaca.
In addition to Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates will participate in equipping the aid ship.
A loading dock is being built in Gaza
The WCK staff is preparing for the reception of the cargo in Gaza. A pier is being built on the shore, along which the supplies can be brought ashore with the help of lifting cranes. The food is piled on pallets.
There is no functioning port in Gaza, and the exact arrival point of the Open Arms barge is not disclosed to the public for security reasons.
– The aid is transported by trucks to northern Gaza, which is in particularly great need of aid. At the beginning of the journey, the cargo still goes through an inspection by the Israeli authorities, says spokesperson Chloe Mata Crane. .
An armed forces cargo ship has left Virginia in the United States for Gaza with a cargo of construction materials for a temporary port.
It is believed that the construction of a stronger port structure will take about a couple of months. According to the US Department of Defense, about a thousand Americans will participate in the operation.
Organizations try to operate in the middle of the fighting
Both aid organizations have operated in Gaza almost continuously throughout the war. Food has been distributed to people in soup kitchens and field kitchens.
WCK operates, for example, in the Deir al-Balah refugee camp. If water and food could be brought to the area, the organization expects to be able to provide up to 70,000 food portions per day.
– More than 36,000 meals have been distributed in Gaza since October, says WCK spokesperson Chloe Mata Crane. WCK has also participated in the assembly of air-dropped aid.
A doctor from the MedGlobal organization who worked in Gaza, interviewed by the news agency Reuters Thaer Ahmad says that he has seen with his own eyes how hungry people are.
– The food shortage affects all Gazans. They have only one thing in mind. Where would you find your next meal, says doctor Thaer Ahmad.