Uncertainty over departure of aid vessel as famine fears intensify

Uncertainty surrounded the departure of an aid ship carrying 200 tonnes of food aimed at alleviating looming famine in Gaza, as pressure mounted for maritime aid in the face of stalling ceasefire talks and the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

- Bethan McKernan

World Central Kitchen (WCK), a US-based non-governmental organisation, and the Spanish charity Open Arms, set up to rescue refugees and migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean, were expecting a first delivery of goods including rice, flour, lentils, beans and canned meat to leave via an Open Arms vessel from Larnaca, Cyprus, at the weekend and arrive at an undisclosed location in Gaza in two or three days' time.

A Cypriot government spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, told the island's official news agency the vessel would depart last night but the exact timing would not be made public for "security reasons". Letymbiotis said the cargo had been inspected by Cypriot officials, according to a plan approved by Israel.

The WCK spokesperson Linda Roth declined to go into the "full logistical information", citing an "evolving and fluid situation", but said Open Arms, towing a barge, would embark as soon as possible. The charities were ready to send another 500 tonnes of aid, funded by the UAE, she added, and work had begun yesterday on a floating jetty where the aid could be received.

In a separate development, a US military vessel carrying equipment for building a second temporary pier in Gaza was en route to the Mediterranean, officials in Washington said. It could be weeks before the facility was functional, they said.

The aid ship delay highlights the complexity of delivering aid to Gaza through unconventional means. Israel has been repeatedly accused of not doing enough to facilitate humanitarian assistance to Gaza's population of 2.3 million people. Its shallow shoreline waters and dearth of functioning ports will make it difficult for the maritime operation to get under way, and it is unclear how much assistance via the new "sea highway" will ease the dire humanitarian situation on the ground.