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Ship with relief supplies in Cyprus: No substitute for help by land
Photo: Santi Palacios / EPA
They are already waiting on the shore: after a journey of several days, a ship loaded with relief supplies has arrived off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
As photos and videos from the AFP news agency show, the "Open Arms" of the Spanish non-governmental organization of the same name with 200 tons of food from the US aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) on board was within sight of the Palestinian territory on Friday morning.
According to the Marine Traffic website, the ship was about five kilometers off the coast.
Some Gazans have already gathered on the shore.
It was not initially known when the ship could be unloaded.
"We hope to unload relief supplies as soon as we can dock, but many factors play a role in this complicated operation," said WCK President Erin Gore.
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A WCK team based in the Gaza Strip has been building a floating pier for several days.
According to the information, the ship loaded 300,000 meals, including rice, flour and canned goods.
The “Open Arms” set off from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus on Tuesday.
Israeli authorities had previously inspected the cargo there.
At the same time, international aid is being dropped from the air into the war zone, with Bundeswehr aircraft also taking part.
However, according to the UN, support by sea and air is not a substitute for help by land.
The humanitarian situation of the people in the Gaza Strip has been worsening dramatically for weeks.
The bare necessities are missing.
The Gaza war was triggered by a massacre carried out by terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups in southern Israel on October 7th.
On the Israeli side, 1,140 people were killed.
Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
On the Palestinian side, more than 31,000 people have been killed since the war began, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority.
The authority does not differentiate between civilians and Hamas fighters when it comes to the number of deaths.
aka/AFP