A US charity says it is loading aid for Gaza onto a boat in Cyprus, preparing for the first shipment to the war-ravaged territory along the new maritime corridor the EU hopes will open this weekend.
The Spanish-flagged vessel Open Arms docked three weeks ago in the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, the closest EU member state to the enclave.
“World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid onto a boat headed to northern Gaza,” the charity said.
“We have been preparing for weeks alongside our trusted NGO partner Open Arms for the opening of a maritime aid corridor that would allow us to scale our efforts in the region,” it added
“The endeavor to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor in Gaza is making progress, and our tugboat stands prepared to embark at a moment’s notice, laden with tonnes of food, water, and vital supplies for Palestinian civilians,” Open Arms said on social media platform X.
source: AlJazeera