It was on the move for four days and the “Open Arms” has now reached the coast of the Gaza Strip. The ship is carrying 200 tons of food – it is a test of whether the population can be supplied by sea.
According to the operator “World Central Kitchen” (WCK), the ship “Open Arms” with around 200 tons of relief supplies for the suffering population in the Gaza Strip has reached its destination. The organization announced on X, formerly Twitter, that unloading on the coast of Gaza had already begun. A makeshift pier has begun to be built there so that the ship can be unloaded.
A team from World Central Kitchen (WCK), based in the Palestinian territory, had been working on the floating dock for several days. There is currently no functioning port in Gaza.
Aid corridor from Cyprus to Gaza
The tug set sail on Tuesday from the Cypriot port of Larnaca, where Israeli authorities had previously inspected the cargo. He carries a platform with him on which the relief supplies are stacked. According to the aid organization, the Open Arms loaded 300,000 meals, including rice, flour and canned goods. It uses the route along a planned aid corridor that EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidi announced in Larnaca a week ago on Friday. “Two pallets have been unloaded from the platform so far. But there is still more to do in the next few hours,” wrote WCK boss José Andrés on X.
The “Open Arms” mission is considered a pilot project to improve supplies for more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, who, according to aid organizations, currently lack virtually everything. There is hope that more ships will deliver relief supplies by sea. Independent of this project, the USA is planning a maritime corridor to Gaza, for which the US military should create a floating dock near the coast.
Bundeswehr takes part in airlift
At the same time, international aid is being dropped from the air into the war zone, with Bundeswehr aircraft also taking part. The Federal Ministry of Defense was unable to give an exact timetable for when the first goods from Bundeswehr aircraft should be dropped over the Gaza Strip. The crews are currently familiarizing themselves with the conditions on site and coordinating the next steps together with international partners, said a ministry spokesman. A total of 20 soldiers were transferred to Jordan.