The O pen Arms ship did not finally set sail yesterday from the Cypriot port of Larnaca heading for the coast of the Gaza Strip as planned. The oenagé told La Vanguardia yesterday afternoon that he has Israel’s approval, but needed to find “the right moment” due to the weather and some things to do, but “the cargo is inspected” by the Israeli authorities in Cyprus and is on board the ship.
It is about 200 tons of food prepared by World Central Kitchen, the organization of chef José Andrés, the initiator of the project and which has also taken care of a fundamental logistical aspect. In Gaza there is only a small fishing pier, on the northern part of the coast, at the height of the old center of Gaza City, but “it is not operational” because of the Israeli bombardments, as Oscar told this newspaper Camps, founder of Open Arms. A team from José Andrés accessed the strip by land and, with a Palestinian contractor, is building a breakwater to unload, precisely using “debris from the bombings”. The breakwater is important because the draft is not even known, and you have to imagine, moreover, that it would allow an orderly discharge, something necessary because of the state of desperation of the Gazans. The rest of the coast is beach.
During the two months that have passed since the project began, José Andrés has negotiated at least with Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (there is a possibility that the latter, who maintain very good relations with Israel, will contribute a ship in the future) and, of course, Cyprus, which is currently the bridgehead for what could be a European humanitarian corridor.
However, for the moment, the Open Arms is the only ship that will make the crossing, of about 200 miles, at very low speed due to the load. Óscar Camps calculated two sailing days.
Lior Haiat, spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published on Friday on the X social network that “Israel welcomes the inauguration of the maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza. The Cypriot initiative will allow increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, after security checks are carried out in accordance with Israeli standards. These controls would have already been carried out, however, on this issue, and as reported by the Efe agency, the Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, said that “there are too many elements, so no one can say that no there is no problem, because we are moving in a war zone”. “There may be malicious actions by some people,” said the minister, who warned that “there are too many things that cannot be predicted.”
If the Israeli spokesman pointed out in his message that “it is very important that more countries join the Cypriot initiative and the international effort to transfer aid” – noting that Israel, as an occupying force, is responsible for the lives of Gazans in all aspects – another thing is with regard to UNRWA. In another message, Lior Haiat called Sweden and Canada’s decision to continue funding the UN agency for Palestinian refugees a “mistake”.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini yesterday expressed “cautiously” optimism that some donor countries will resume funding within weeks, warning that the agency is “at risk of death” after Israel alleged that some of the personnel participated in the October 7 Hamas attack.
An investigation has been launched under former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and the final report is expected to be published next month. Without the Palestinian Refugee Agency, Gaza would be left without regulated assistance and dependent on the various budgets and programs of other UN agencies, and even on the goodwill of governments. The United States and Great Britain, among a total of 16 countries, suspended the contribution to UNRWA; Sweden announced 20 million euros yesterday, Canada did not specify and Spain has contributed 3.5 million, as announced a few days ago by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
Yesterday saw at least 82 deaths in Israeli attacks in Gaza, bringing the total to 30,960, according to its Ministry of Health. The total number of injured is 72,524 and there would be almost 8,000 bodies under the rubble. Just yesterday, three more children died at the Al-Xifa hospital due to malnutrition and dehydration, so that there are already 23 in total, the Efe agency pointed out.
In Rafah, a shelling of the 12-story Al-Masri residential tower forced the evacuation of all residents, and several injuries were reported.
