Cyprus sends Gaza around 400 tonnes of food aid

A second humanitarian aid mission has been carried out, which sends 400 tonnes of food to it, whose citizens are at risk of starvation. A cargo ship departed today (30.03.2024) from the port of Nicosia to Cyprus bound for the Gaza Strip. Assistance will be transferred to Gaza on the cargo ship and a platform towed by a rescue vessel. This is the second mission of assistance from Cyprus, where the Cypriot authorities have created, in cooperation with Israel, a maritime corridor to facilitate the controlled cargo arriving directly in the besieged Palestinian enclave. The U.S.-based World Central Kitchen charity (WCK) arranged the mission with Spain’s Open Arms charity, funded mainly by the UAE and supported by Cypriot authorities. In his first mission earlier in March, the US built an improvised pier from the ruins that would allow the unloading of nearly 200 tonnes of food in Gaza, which does not have port facilities. Saturday’s mission includes two forklift trucks and a crane to help with future sea deliveries. Separately, the United States plans to build a floating pier off Gaza to get help. The target date for completion is May 1st, but could be ready about April 15th, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis said late Friday. The United Nations has warned that famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip, where 300,000 people have been trapped because of the fighting. Throughout the enclave, more than half of its population, 2.3 million people, can face famine by July.