After delay

Ship with relief supplies for Gaza sets sail

The "Open Arms" has around 200 tons of drinking water, medicine and food on board.

(Bild: AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

The first ship carrying aid supplies to the war-torn Palestinians in the Gaza Strip via a new sea corridor has set sail from Cyprus. The "Open Arms", operated by a non-governmental organization, set sail from Larnaca with 200 tons of relief supplies on board. It was mainly carrying flour, rice and protein products. The transport is a pilot project to test supplies to the Gaza Strip from the sea.

The launch of the aid corridor by sea was announced at the weekend by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis. Larnaca is around 400 kilometers away from Gaza. Experts estimate that the journey there could take 48 to 60 hours.

US military wants to build port
It was unclear where and how the ship would unload its cargo after arriving in the waters off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Delivering the goods is considered a major challenge because there is only a small fishing port that is not deep enough for cargo ships. The US military therefore wants to set up a temporary port together with international partners, although the US says it will take two months to build.

The "Open Arms" has around 200 tons of drinking water, medicine and food on board.

(Bild: AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Meanwhile, Israel has defended itself against criticism of the catastrophic supply situation in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, more than 16,000 trucks have entered the Gaza Strip and only 1.5 percent have not been admitted, the Israeli Cogat authority responsible for contacts with the Palestinians and humanitarian aid wrote on X on Tuesday.

UNRWA chief: Import of medical equipment banned
The Cogat authority also responded to a tweet by the head of the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini. He had previously criticized on X that too little humanitarian aid was reaching the Gaza Strip and that restrictions were increasing. According to the report, Israeli authorities are banning many life-saving products that they believe could also be used for other purposes, including oxygen cylinders, cancer medication and ventilators. "The release of humanitarian supplies and the delivery of essential and critical goods must be facilitated and accelerated," Lazzarini demanded.

Trucks often do not reach target areas
According to the Israeli government, more relief supplies are currently arriving in the coastal strip than before the war began. A spokesperson for the United Nations said that it was not enough to count the number of trucks crossing border posts. According to the UN, the problem lies in the distribution of goods within the war zone. According to the UN emergency aid office OCHA, only half of all planned aid convoys reached the areas for which they were intended in February. Israeli support was lacking for the remaining deliveries. The distribution required coordination with the Israeli military.

Hunger crisis looms if supplies fail to arrive
According to aid organizations, the situation of the people in the small coastal strip is becoming increasingly desperate. According to the UN, a hunger crisis is imminent if aid deliveries by truck are not increased. Around 2.2 million people live in the Gaza Strip.

Before the war, 500 - and therefore significantly more - trucks drove into the Palestinian territory every day. According to the Israeli government, however, these were not only loaded with food, but also with goods that are currently not being delivered. The Gaza war was triggered 158 days ago by the terrorist attack and the massacres and kidnappings by the Islamist Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations in southern Israel