Ship carrying 200 tons of aid approaches Gaza

(15 Mar 2024)

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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wadi Gaza, Gaza Strip - 15 March 2024
1. Various of Open Arms boat carrying aid, seen from the coast of Gaza Strip
STORYLINE:
A ship carrying 200 tons of aid for Palestinians was seen nearing Gaza on Friday.

The ship set sail for Gaza from Cyprus on Tuesday in a pilot program for the opening of a sea corridor to the territory, where the 5-month Israel-Hamas war has driven hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to the brink of starvation.

The push to get food in by sea — along with a recent campaign of airdrops into isolated northern Gaza — highlighted the international community’s frustration with the growing humanitarian crisis and its inability to get aid in by road.

The food on the aid ship was collected by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, and is being transported by the Spanish aid group Open Arms.

The Open Arms ship is towing a barge loaded with food. Once it nears Gaza, two smaller vessels will tow the barge to a jetty being built by World Central Kitchen, which operates 65 kitchens across the territory, the group said. It plans to distribute the food in the north.

The war, triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, has killed over 31,000 Palestinians and driven most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes. A quarter of Gaza’s population is starving, according to the United Nations, because they cannot find enough food or afford it at vastly inflated prices.

AP video shot by Abdel Kareem Hana
Production: Wafaa Shurafa

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