Gaza war: First aid ship sets off from Cyprus

A Spanish ship towing a barge loaded with 200 tonnes of desperately needed food supplies for Palestinians in Gaza has finally set sail from Cyprus.

The Open Arms left Larnaca just before 09:00 (07:00 GMT) on a journey which could take as long as two days.

Gaza has no functioning port, so the US charity behind the mission, World Central Kitchen, is building a jetty to receive the aid.

The UN warns that massive aid shortages have left Gaza on the brink of famine.

The quickest, most effective way to get aid into the territory is by road. But aid agencies say Israeli restrictions mean a fraction of what is needed is getting in.

If the Open Arms successfully docks in Gaza, then other ships will follow as part of a European and Emirati maritime effort to get more aid into Gaza.

World Central Kitchen (WCK) announced that its first maritime shipment of aid was on its way to Gaza on Tuesday morning after weeks of preparation.

The Open Arms – a salvage vessel belonging to a Spanish charity of the same name – is towing a barge filled with rice, flour, legumes, canned vegetables and canned proteins.

While it is at sea, Palestinians working for WCK will continue building a jetty at an undisclosed location on Gaza’s coast, which will be used to offload the aid. They are using rubble from buildings and infrastructure destroyed over the last five months.

If the jetty is ready in time, WCK says it will load the food on to lorries and distribute it to communities in need. The charity has a network of some 60 kitchens across Gaza and has provided more than 35 million meals to the estimated 1.7 million displaced Palestinians there.

“‘Operation Safeena’, (boat, vessel) on its way! First trip to the shores of Gaza, learning,” WCK’s founder, Spanish celebrity chef José Andrés, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “At the same time as [Open Arms] is moving, construction of the jetty is well under way.”

“We may fail, but the biggest failure will be not trying! Thank you to all that made it possible… We could bring millions of meals a day… The people of the north will be fed!” he added.

The UN says at least 576,000 people in Gaza – one quarter of the population – are one step away from famine.

It warns that time is running out for the estimated 300,000 people isolated in the north of the territory, which UN agencies have struggled to access for several months due to the ongoing hostilities and a breakdown of law and order.

Gaza’s health ministry says at least 25 people, many of them children, have died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration at hospitals there.

Israel says it welcomes the creation of a maritime corridor and that it is facilitating the transfer of aid to Gaza while its forces continue to fight Hamas.

The war began when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages. More than 31,180 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.