From the Liveblog of
Saturday, March 9, 2024
US charity aid ship set to sail from Cyprus to Gaza on new maritime corridor
A US charity says it is loading aid for Gaza onto a boat in Cyprus, the first shipment to the Strip along a maritime corridor the EU Commission hopes will open this weekend.
The Spanish-flagged vessel Open Arms docked three weeks ago in the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, the closest European Union country to the Gaza Strip.
“World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid onto a boat headed to northern Gaza,” the charity says.
“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 adds.
“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 tons of food, water, and vital supplies for Palestinian civilians,” Open Arms says on social media platform X.
In Larnaca, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen had earlier expressed hope that a maritime corridor could open this Sunday, although details remained unclear.
