The Open Arms vessel is loaded with food and water for the people of Gaza. Gaza City receives humanitarian aid for the first time in weeks Humanitarian aid
Aid has arrived in Gaza City for the first time in weeks, with enough supplies for 25,000 people, the UN World Food Program (WFP) announced on Tuesday.
“WFP delivered enough food for 25,000 people to Gaza City early Tuesday morning in its first successful mission to the north since February 20,” the UN agency said in a statement on Platform X. “As people in northern Gaza are on the verge of famine, we need supplies every day and points of entry directly to the north.”
UN officials on Tuesday also welcomed the news that a ship carrying 200 tons of humanitarian supplies, while emphasizing that this type of transportation will not replace the delivery of aid through land corridors.
“Any food and other emergency aid entering Gaza, as we all we know, it is urgently needed, and there is no doubt about it,” said Jens Laerke, a representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “But this will not replace land transportation of goods to Gaza and especially to the north of the strip.”
Sea route
International charity World Central Kitchen earlier announced that its Open Arms vessel had sailed to Gaza, about 200 nautical miles from Cyprus. The NGO has already worked with UN teams to assist the population of Rafah, in southern Gaza, where approximately 1.5 million people have taken refuge.
Prohibited Items
The head of the UN Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) condemned the decision of the Israeli authorities, who refused to allow a truck with so-called “dual-use items” to pass through for residents of the enclave, emphasizing that in Gaza -The humanitarian situation continues to be dire.
“A truck carrying humanitarian aid was just sent back because it contained scissors used in children’s medical kits,” the General said UNRWA Commissioner Philippe Lazzarini.
Israeli authorities’ list of prohibited “dual-use items” includes, among others, anesthetics, solar lamps, oxygen tanks, ventilators, water purification tablets, cancer drugs and maternity kits.
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All options
When asked during a briefing in Geneva whether the UN could fully utilize the sea corridor between the Cyprus port of Larnaca and Gaza, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke responded that any routes should be seriously considered, but the land corridor remains preferable, subject to the safe regular delivery of goods.
“Famine is imminent”
The head of the UN World Food Program (WFP), Cindy McCain, warned yesterday that famine in Gaza is inevitable and that it can only be avoided if the volumes are increased many times over humanitarian assistance.
Speaking in Rome, the WFP executive director expressed grave concern for the plight of people “across Gaza, especially in the north, which is in the grip of a humanitarian disaster.”
WFP was forced to suspend aid deliveries to the northern sector on February 20 due to fears for the safety of its staff and “due to the complete lack of law and order.”