The first ship carrying relief supplies has reached the coast of the Gaza Strip. The German Air Force is also preparing aid deliveries from Jordan – from the air. The World Food Program is pushing for overland aid.
After a journey of several days, a ship loaded with relief supplies arrived off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The “Open Arms” loaded with 200 tons of food from the US aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) is now within sight of the Palestinian territory. According to the Marine Traffic website, the ship was about five kilometers off the coast that morning.
Some Gazans were already gathering on the shore to wait for relief supplies. It is still unclear when the ship can be unloaded. “We hope to unload relief supplies as soon as we are able to dock, but many factors come into play in this complicated operation,” WCK President Erin Gore said Thursday.
A WCK team based in the Gaza Strip has been building a floating pier for several days. The ship is said to have loaded 300,000 meals, including rice, flour and canned goods. The “Open Arms” left Cyprus on Tuesday.
First Air Force machine in Jordan
At the same time, international aid is being dropped from the air into the war zone, with Bundeswehr aircraft also taking part. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius gave the green light for the order on Wednesday. The Bundeswehr is providing two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, each of which could transport up to 18 tons of load.
Yesterday, the first Air Force transport plane landed in Jordan. “We are unloading the material we brought with us and preparing for the upcoming flights,” wrote the Air Force on Platform X. Relief supplies are to be loaded into Jordan. The drops are scheduled to begin this week.
Land deliveries are most important
However, according to the World Food Program, aid deliveries by air and sea cannot replace transport by land. “We urgently need more open access,” said the director of the World Food Program for Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein, Martin Frick, to the radio station Bayern2.
The supply situation is particularly bad in the north of the Gaza Strip, which is why border crossings have to be opened there, explained Frick. In December, 570,000 people were already at risk of starvation.
The World Food Program currently has more than 1,000 trucks outside the Gaza Strip that can bring help at any time; the absolute minimum aid deliveries are 300 truckloads per day. “You have to keep this in mind,” said Frick: “There are trucks full of food, and children are starving on the other side of the border.”
Hamas: Crowd shelled by Israel
According to the terrorist organization Hamas, people waiting for relief supplies were shot at by the Israeli army yesterday. The Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Gaza Strip said 20 people were killed and another 155 injured.
The Israeli military dismissed the reports as false and said it was investigating what happened. The incident is said to have occurred near a roundabout that has been an important point for the distribution of aid supplies in the northern Gaza Strip in recent weeks.
USA try armistice to reach
Meanwhile, efforts to reach a ceasefire continue. The USA circulated a draft of a corresponding resolution for the UN Security Council. Such a ceasefire should therefore be part of an agreement that also provides for the release of the Israeli hostages from the grip of Hamas.
The US draft requires all parties to comply with international law, which requires the protection of civilians and civilian objects, which include hospitals, schools and homes. The text expresses “the Council’s deep concern about the threat posed by conflict-related famines and epidemics to civilians in the Gaza Strip, as well as the number of undernourished people” and a catastrophic level of hunger in the coastal area.
If the resolution is adopted, the Security Council would for the first time review “the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, as well as the taking and killing of hostages, the murder of civilians and sexual violence, including rape” and the use of civilian infrastructure for military condemn purposes. A date for a vote in the Security Council has not yet been set.