Israel admits the landing after an “exhaustive security check” and confirms that the shipment “does not constitute a violation” of its blockade on Gaza
This Friday, the rescue ship ‘Open Arms’ began disembarking in the Gaza Strip the 200 tons of humanitarian aid it is transporting to help the population of the Palestinian enclave, marking the completion of the first journey through the maritime corridor. opened from Cyprus to deliver assistance to the Gazan population, after more than five months of military offensive by Israel.
The announcement has been made by World Central Kitchen, the NGO of Spanish chef José Andrés and half of this joint mission with the ‘Open Arms’ to deliver to the Gazans the food stored on the large platform that has dragged the ship for three days of travel.
“We have just delivered two boxes from the barge,” the chef himself announced on the social network X, “but there are still more to unload in the next few hours.”
The Israeli Army has specified for its part that the ship arrived on the coast of Gaza after having been subjected to an “exhaustive security check” and that the delivery of aid is “being carried out in coordination and subject to an agreement.” with civil organizations”
“We emphasize that this entry of humanitarian aid does not constitute a violation of Israel’s maritime security blockade on the Palestinian enclave, according to the Israeli Army note collected by the ‘Times of Israel’.
The ship left on Tuesday with 200 tons of flour, rice, lentils, chickpeas, tuna and other basic foods that will become a million meals for the residents of the enclave.
The ‘Open Arms’ trip is the first of the so-called ‘Amalthea’ operation, which aims to establish a maritime humanitarian corridor between Cyprus and the Palestinian enclave in the face of the enormous difficulties faced by operations for the entry of aid by land in the Gaza Strip.
Likewise, NGOs such as Save the Children have expressed serious doubts about the usefulness of maritime corridors like this, understanding that “they are expensive, ineffective and a distraction from the critical solution to save the lives of children and families in Gaza.” before warning that the United States’ plans to complete this maritime corridor with the construction of a temporary port in front of the strip “are going to take too long.”
Now there are important logistical and security challenges ahead for the landing and distribution of aid in the Strip, which will be previously subject to inspections by the Israeli authorities.
In this sense, the authorities of the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), have also asked the international community to “rethink” the “viability” of the maritime corridor and have expressed their doubts about this mechanism due to the amount of help and the slowness of the process. For this reason, they have demanded to “pressure” Israel for the entry of convoys by land.
