LARNACA, Cyprus — A ship carrying humanitarian aid was getting ready to leave Cyprus and go to Gaza, as international donors opened a sea corridor to provide assistance to the besieged territory, which is experiencing widespread hunger after five months of war, the European Commission president said on Friday.
The creation of the sea corridor, along with the recent start of air deliveries of aid, revealed growing frustration with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and a new international willingness to find ways around Israeli restrictions.
The ship, belonging to Spain’s Open Arms aid group, will make a trial voyage to test the corridor in the next few days, Ursula von der Leyen informed reporters in Cyprus, where she is overseeing the preparations. The ship has been waiting at Cyprus’s port of Larnaca to get authorization to deliver food aid from World Central Kitchen, a U.S. charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.
Israel expressed its approval for the maritime corridor on Friday, but also stated that security checks would be necessary.
“The Cypriot initiative will allow for an increase in humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, following a security check according to Israeli standards,” Lior Haiat, spokesperson for Israel’s foreign ministry, said on X, previously known as Twitter.
The European Union, along with the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and other participating countries, were launching the sea route in response to the “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in Gaza, Von der Leyen stated at a news conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is severe, with innocent Palestinian families and children in desperate need of basic necessities,” she stated.
Open Arms founder Oscar Camps informed The Associated Press that the ship is set to depart on Saturday and will take two to three days to reach an undisclosed location where the group World Central Kitchen is building a pier to receive it. The group has 60 food kitchens throughout Gaza to distribute aid, he stated.
The ship will tow a barge loaded with 200 tons of rice and flour close to the Gaza shore, he stated. Pontoon boats will then be used for the challenging final part of the journey to tow the barge up to the pier.
Camps mentioned that his group has been planning the delivery for two months, well before the EU Commission chief announced the launch of the safe corridor. He stated that he is more worried about the security and lives of the people in Gaza than the security of the ship.
“I'm not sure if nations are planning something bigger, but we are doing everything we can” with the group’s 3 million euros budget from private donations, Camps commented.
In Brussels, commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari mentioned that the Open Arms ship’s direct route to Gaza presents several “logistical issues” that are still being addressed. He mentioned that U.N. agencies and the Red Cross will also be involved.
Efforts to establish a sea route for aid deliveries come as concern grows about the spread of hunger among Gaza’s 2.3 million people. The most severe hunger is in northern Gaza, which has been cut off by Israeli forces for months and has experienced long periods without food deliveries.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced a plan to construct a temporary dock in Gaza to assist with providing aid. This emphasizes the need to bypass Israel, the main ally in the Middle East and the largest recipient of U.S. military aid, in order to deliver aid to Gaza. This has included airdrops that began last week. Israel claims that Hamas has taken control of some aid deliveries.
Aid officials have stated that delivering aid by sea and air is much more expensive and less effective than using trucks to transport the large amounts of aid needed. On Friday, airdrop malfunctions resulted in the deaths of five people in Gaza and injuries to several others, as well as damage to homes, according to Palestinian officials.
After repeated warnings about the risk of famine in Gaza due to Israel's attacks and blockade, doctors at two hospitals in northern Gaza have reported 20 deaths related to malnutrition.
While reaffirming his support for Israel, Biden used his State of the Union speech to repeat his call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow more aid into Gaza.
“To the leadership of Israel, I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,” Biden stated before Congress. He also reiterated the need for Israel to do more to protect civilians in the conflict and to work towards Palestinian statehood as the only long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian violence.
U.S. officials have stated that it will probably take weeks before the Gaza dock is operational.
Aid organizations have reported that delivering urgently needed supplies to Gaza has been difficult due to challenges in coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities, and the breakdown of public order. Providing aid to the isolated north is even more challenging.
Sigrid Kaag, the U.N.'s senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, informed reporters last Thursday that air and sea deliveries cannot compensate for a lack of land supply routes.
Von der Leyen said the EU will continue to explore different methods of delivering aid to Gaza. She stated that the bloc will consider “all other options, including airdrops, if our humanitarian partners on the ground believe it is effective.”
Efforts to reach a cease-fire before Ramadan seem to have stalled. Hamas announced on Thursday that its delegation had left Cairo, where discussions were taking place, until next week.
International mediators had hoped to ease some of the immediate crisis with a six-week ceasefire, which would have involved Hamas releasing some of the Israeli hostages it is holding, Israel releasing some Palestinian prisoners, and aid groups being given access to provide significant assistance to Gaza.
It is believed that Palestinian militants are holding approximately 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others who were captured during Hamas’ attack on October 7, in which militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took around 250 hostages. Several dozen hostages were released during a week-long truce in November, and around 30 are believed to be deceased.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 30,878 Palestinians have been killed. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its counts, but states that women and children make up two-thirds of those killed. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed records, and its casualty figures from previous conflicts have largely aligned with those of the U.N. and independent experts.
Officials from Egypt said Hamas has agreed to the main terms of the agreement as a first step. However, Hamas wants assurances that it will lead to a more permanent cease-fire in the long run. On the other hand, Israel wants to limit the negotiations to a less comprehensive agreement.
The officials, who were not authorized to talk about the negotiations with the media, said this on condition of anonymity. Both officials mentioned that the mediators are still urging the two parties to adjust their stances.
