The first ship with desperately wanted meals provides has arrived on the coast of Gaza, marking a key check of a deliberate sea hall to ship support to Palestinians pushed to the brink of hunger by Israel’s persevering with assault and blockade.
The Open Arms, named after the Spanish charity that owns it, set sail on Tuesday from Larnaca, a port on the Greek Cypriot administration of Cyprus, towing a barge with 200 tons of meals supplied by the US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK).
“We are very relieved that we finally could open this corridor and we hope that we will be the first boat to arrive of many,” Laura Lanuza, communications and tasks director at Open Arms, informed Anadolu.
What the civilian inhabitants in Gaza “are suffering and going through is really painful,” she added.
Israel launched its struggle on Gaza after the Oct. 7 cross-border assault by Hamas, and has since killed greater than 31,300 Palestinians and pushed the territory to the brink of famine. Latest estimates point out not less than 27 individuals have already starved to demise in Gaza.
The support mission, named Operation Safeena, goals to inaugurate a maritime support hall proposed by the Greek Cypriot administration, and supported by the UK, US and EU.
On Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen introduced that the authorization given to Open Arms to ship support on to Gaza was the primary since 2005.
The EU, she mentioned, will collaborate with “smaller ships” until the US navy completes the development of a floating port off Gaza’s coast.
Lanuza expressed hope that this voyage by Open Arms “is the first trip of many.”
“The most important thing is to open this corridor, to be the first one to open it, because it’s been decades with this maritime corridor closed and this blockade from Israel,” she mentioned.
She mentioned if this operation is successful, there “are tons of food already waiting … for a second trip.”
“The idea is that other boats will join us in order for the population to have as much aid as possible, because the situation in Gaza at the moment is extreme,” she added.
– What is the operation?
The operation began when Jose Andres, founding father of WCK, contacted Open Arms Director Oscar Camps, Lanuza informed Anadolu in a dialog on Thursday night.
A significant problem was the truth that there isn’t a functioning port in Gaza, so the 2 organizations began engaged on discovering an answer to ship and disembark the help, she mentioned.
For weeks, there have been “many conversations” with officers from all sides on “ways to approach this corridor,” she defined.
WCK is constructing a pier on the Gaza coast and a platform might be positioned subsequent to the pier to disembark the help, mentioned Lanuza.
She mentioned that is Open Arms’ second collaboration with WCK, following their joint mission in Odessa in 2022.
“We really are happy to engage in this second, and this very unique and very special and necessary operation, for Gaza and its population,” she mentioned.
The ship is carrying 200 tons of meals, together with flour, rice, canned tuna fish, beans and different greens.
The support distribution might be handed by WCK, who’ve been on the bottom for months and are feeding the inhabitants there with over 60 kitchens in Gaza, mentioned Lanuza.
“This food will go directly to their kitchens to start cooking for everyone there,” she added.
– Challenges and secrecy
The largest challenges within the mission have been technical, mentioned Lanuza.
“No one before had been able to prepare a project in which the disembarkation on the shore was possible due to the lack of ports in Gaza,” she mentioned.
The different crucial situation was the “diplomatic conversations.”
“So, both were really difficult … We’ve been working on both aspects day and night for over three weeks,” mentioned Lanuza.
The ship solely set sail after Israeli authorities inspected and scanned all of the cargo and the vessel.
According to Lanuza, any particulars on the operation needed to be saved secret for “security reasons” as a way to keep away from issues, significantly in the mean time of disembarkation.
The arrival time and placement of the ship couldn’t be disclosed to “prevent from any problems on that side,” she mentioned.
“But the pier will be finished by the time the boat arrives,” she mentioned.
“Hopefully, we will learn a lot from this very first trip which is … highly complex and there are many aspects,” she added.
Source: www.anews.com.tr