Hosni Nadim
16 March 2024•Update: 17 March 2024
GAZA CITY, Palestine
The unloading of the first aid ship that arrived on the shores of the besieged Gaza Strip a day earlier was completed on Saturday, local sources said.
“Small boats began unloading the ship's cargo on Friday and transporting it towards the shore of Gaza City,” eyewitnesses told Anadolu.
“Unloading operations were concluded Saturday morning,” they added.
The Open Arms towed a barge carrying 200 tons of food donated by the US-based charity World Central Kitchen.
The vessel departed from Larnaca port of the Greek Cypriot administration and arrived on Gaza’s shores on Friday.
The aid mission, named Operation Safeena, aims to inaugurate a maritime aid corridor proposed by the Greek Cypriot administration, and supported by the UK, US, and EU.
Israel started its war on Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border incursion by Hamas. It has since killed nearly 31,500 Palestinians and pushed the territory to the brink of famine, besides causing mass destruction and displacement.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
The US has separately announced to building of a temporary dock on the Gaza shoreline to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi
