The arrival of humanitarian aid by sea to Gaza could be imminent. Satellite images taken on March 11, 12 and 13 show the construction of a pier on a beach in the Strip. It would be a pier built with sand accumulation that connects directly to a road. The World Open Kitchen (WOK) charity, led by Spanish chef José Andrés, had announced that it was building a makeshift pier to receive the first shipment of food aid through the maritime corridor via Cyprus carried by Open Arms, whose ship is already in front of the coast of northern Gaza, according to the ship tracking website Marine Traffic.
On Thursday, World Open Kitchen assured that the first shipment of humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea was going as planned and the breakwater to disembark on the coast of the Strip would be ready when the ship arrived at its destination.
"Our departure and navigation times will fit perfectly with our arrival and construction times of this port. Everything is going according to plan," Juan Camilo Jiménez, Response Manager at World Central Kitchen (WCK), told EFE.
For security reasons, no details have been given about the journey or the time of arrival in the Strip.
This organization, together with the Spanish NGO Open Arms, have been planning for months the opening of a humanitarian corridor by sea, which was inaugurated last Tuesday with the departure from Cyprus of a ship transporting 200 tons of food, equivalent to about 500,000 meals.
Jiménez also confirmed that a second shipment, of another 400 tons, is already being prepared in the Cypriot port of Larnaca, which will leave in the coming days, with the aim of alleviating the famine caused by the blockade and Israel's attacks on Gaza.
As with Open Arms, this second boat will unload the food at the 35-meter breakwater that WCK collaborators are building to make up for the lack of ports on the coast of Gaza.
However, Jiménez acknowledged that since this operation was planned, he was aware that these maritime shipments should not replace other entry routes, such as the Rafah land crossing, between Egypt and Gaza, air supplies or more corridors by sea. "This is just another route and at this time there are not enough routes to satisfy the demand for the needs that exist," he said.
Regarding the distribution of food on the ground, Jiménez recalled that WCK has been working in Gaza for four months, where it has prepared 35 million meals in collaboration with staff and local communities.
Thus, to avoid crowds and problems when aid arrives by sea, the NGO will adapt the logistics and networks it has built in recent months, he noted.
Regarding the announcement last Friday by the European Commission of the opening of a maritime corridor, the head of WCK said that he does not know what "mechanisms" the European governments or other countries have in place, but his NGO is willing to listen and see how you can join. At the moment, the first shipment and the one being prepared have been coordinated with Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
Although there are many hopes that this maritime corridor will serve to alleviate the serious humanitarian needs of the Strip, its government, controlled by Hamas, has criticized the initiative because the 200 tons of food it carries "does not exceed that of one or two trucks" and Also "it takes days to arrive."
Hamas, like humanitarian agencies, insist on the need to open more land routes for the distribution of aid throughout the enclave, especially in the north, where more than 700,000 citizens are at risk of famine and 27 people have already died, the majority babies, due to malnutrition and dehydration.
"Aid efforts for our people are weak and remain below the minimum required in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe that afflicts us," the Gazan government lamented yesterday.
Meanwhile, after more than five months of war, hunger and bombs continue to kill people in the enclave, where the number of victims amounts to 31,340 dead and 73,134 injured, in addition to some 7,000 bodies trapped under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health. .
