The first ship carrying nearly 200 tonnes of food to the Gaza Strip departed this morning from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, as part of a pilot project aimed at opening a new sea route for humanitarian aid to reach famine-stricken residents of the Palestinian enclave.
The Spanish NGO Open Arms' ship, carrying about 200 tonnes of flour, rice and protein, "sailed" at about 08:50, said Laura Lanucha, an Open Arms spokeswoman.
The mission is mainly funded by the United Arab Emirates and organised by the NGO of US-Spanish chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen (WCK), while Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms provided the ship.
"Our goal is to create a maritime highway of ships and barges filled with millions of meals that will be directed without interruption to Gaza," Andres and Erin Gore, a WCK executive, said in a statement.
The NGOs plan to take the aid directly to Gaza, which has been cut off from the outside world since Israel launched military operations following the October 7 Hamas attack.
As there is no port in Gaza, WCK noted that it is building a pier using materials from the enclave's destroyed buildings. It added that it has also collected another 500 tonnes of aid in Cyprus, which it also intends to transport to Gaza.
(Source: Amna)