(Al Jazeera Media Network) An aid ship loaded with food has departed Cyprus heading for Gaza, after days of delay.
The Open Arms, owned by a charity of the same name, left Larnaca port early on Tuesday, towing a barge containing about 200 tonnes of flour, rice, and protein. The voyage is a test of a planned sea corridor to carry aid to a population on the brink of starvation.
Mostly funded by the United Arab Emirates, the mission is organized by United States-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK).
The 210 nautical mile (390 km) voyage across the eastern Mediterranean to Gaza with a heavy tow barge could take up to two days, Cypriot officials have said.
Open Arms’ journey will test a planned sea corridor for getting aid into Gaza that was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides last Friday in Larnaca.
“Our goal is to establish a maritime highway of boats and barges stocked with millions of meals continuously headed towards Gaza,” WCK founder Jose Andres and chief executive officer Erin Gore said in a statement.
With no port infrastructure in the enclave, WCK says it is building a landing jetty in Gaza with material from destroyed buildings and rubble.
Andres said that the construction is “well underway” in a post on X.
Another 500 tonnes of aid amassed in Cyprus is ready to be dispatched, the statement added.
The initial delivery will have little effect on the chronic food shortage in Gaza.
At least half a million, or one in four people in Gaza, are facing famine as the holy month of Ramadan gets under way.
Israel implemented a total blockade of Gaza in October and has allowed very little aid by road. Countries including Jordan and the US have conducted air drops of aid, but that strategy is unlikely to be effective enough.
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