©Reuters. Workers stand near a rescue vessel of the Spanish NGO Open Arms in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, March 9, 2024. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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By Yiannis Kourtoglou and Stamos Prousalis
LARNACA, Cyprus, March 9 (Reuters) – Charity workers loaded humanitarian aid for Gaza onto a barge in Cyprus on Saturday, part of an international effort to launch a sea corridor to a Palestinian population on the brink of famine.
The European Commission said a maritime aid corridor between Cyprus and Gaza could start operating as early as this weekend in a pilot project run by an international charity and funded by the United Arab Emirates.
The Open Arms, a rescue ship owned by a Spanish NGO and more accustomed to rescuing migrants at sea, was moored at a port in the coastal town of Larnaca, Cyprus, 210 miles northwest of Gaza.
It will tow a barge with 200 tonnes of food from the charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) and funded largely by the United Arab Emirates. The timing of his departure from Cyprus was unclear.
“We will leave as soon as all conditions are favorable,” a WCK spokesperson said without providing further details.
The sea journey to Gaza takes about 15 hours, although taking a barge could lengthen the journey.
The United States has said it wants to build a temporary pier to bring aid to Gaza, which has no port infrastructure. It, too, plans to initially use Cyprus, which offers a cargo screening process that will include Israeli officials, eliminating the need for security checks in Gaza.
Negotiations over a possible ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas remain stalled.
Humanitarian agencies have warned of an impending famine five months into Israel’s campaign against Hamas. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are now internally displaced, with severe difficulties delivering aid at land border checkpoints.
A sea corridor from Cyprus will complement attempts to increase aid supplies, which have included food drops.
WCK has entered into a partnership with the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms.
“WCK and partners agree that more than one vessel will be needed and are working toward a steady flow of aid,” it said in a statement, adding that another 500 tons of aid was ready to follow the initial shipment.
A WCK spokesman said the intention was to sail to Gaza, where WCK and its partners were building a pier. He was not tied to the American project.
Gaza has been under an Israeli naval blockade since 2007, when Hamas took control of the enclave. Since then there have been few direct arrivals by sea. The port of Larnaca was used by pro-Palestinian activists, who used small sailing boats to enter the Gaza port in 2008.