Gaza Strip: Ship approaching loaded with 200 tonnes of food

It is headed towards a ship loaded with food, where the population is faced with starvation, beyond bombing and stray fire, as the Israeli war/ Hamas travels the sixth of the month, with no chance of even a truce on the horizon. In the face of the lack of assistance reaching the Palestinian enclave through land routes, largely leveled, the international community is trying to diversify supply routes, moving towards air throws and pilot project for the creation of a maritime corridor, from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip. A ship leased by the Spanish NGO Open Arms, loaded with 200 tonnes of food, left Larnaca yesterday, taking the corridor that the EU and various other countries seek to create. It is expected to reach “some days” on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Laura Lanutha, a representative of Open Arms, clarified. According to the specialized Vessel Finder website, the ship, moving at a very low speed, was still 155 nautical miles (285 km) from the Gaza coast. Cyprus, the EU country closest to the Palestinian enclave than any other, has assured that a second shipment is being prepared, “much larger”. In Gaza, the population desperately waits for more help, including to reduce the prices of the few foods in the still functioning markets, such as katayevs (these are small crepes that are much consumed in the iftars, the dinners with which the fasting of the ramshake is interrupted). The holy month of fasting and prayer for Muslims began this week. “The demand is very low, due to high prices. Last year, the price of a kilo of land was 6 shekels (p. 1.5 euros). Today, you’re ashamed to cry when you’re forced to tell people that a kilo of herdage is 20 shekels,” said Muhammad al Masal, who sells the traditional bond. ‘New runway’ In addition to the departure of the Open Arms ship from Cyprus, four U.S. Navy vessels departed yesterday Tuesday from the U.S., with about a hundred soldiers and the necessary equipment to set up a waterfront in the Gaza Strip so that humanitarian aid could be delivered. The trip will last about 30 days and the facility is expected to be ready “within 60 days”, according to Washington. But sending assistance by sea and throwing out the skies, which are now daily lately, is not enough to replace land routes, the UN and other factors stress. “When we look at alternative routes to offer assistance, by sea or by the skies, we need to remember that we need to do so because land roads are usually closed. Artificially closed,” European diplomacy chief Giuseppe Borrell said yesterday. “The withdrawal of food from the population is used as a war weapon”, according to him. For his part, the Israeli army announced on the night another “pilot plan” which according to him allowed six trucks with the help of the World Food Programme (WFP) into the northern Gaza Strip, for the first time since the outbreak of the war. Since the start of its ongoing large-scale operations the Israeli army has been making thorough checks on assistance entering the Gaza Strip through terminals in the southern part of the enclave. Until now, he has not responded to the constant calls to open more crossing points, especially in the north. “We’ll finish the job” Defying international appeals and pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to proclaim that the attack against Hamas will reach Rafa, according to him the last stronghold of the Palestinian Islamist movement. There are now 1.5 million Palestinians in this city, most displaced because of the war, many more than once. “Let me be clear: Israel will prevail in this war at all costs. And to defeat this war, Israel must destroy Hamas’ last battalions in Rafa”, as if it does not “Hamas will be regrouped to recapture Gaza and then we will have returned to the starting point,” Mr Netanyahu insisted through a video conference addressing the powerful American Jewish lobby AIPAC. “We will finish the job,” flew the head of the Israeli government, who vowed to “eliminate” Hamas after the attack launched on the morning of 7 October by her military arm in southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. At least 1,160 people were killed in this attack, most of them civilians, according to an account by the French Agency based on official Israeli data. Hamas members also took some 250 hostages and led them to the enclave, where it is believed to still hold about half, although over three dozen are thought to be dead. In retaliation, the Israeli army launched massive air, land and sea bombings into the enclave where Hamas has been ruling since 2007 and twenty days later began land operations; To date, at least 31,184 people have been killed, most women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip. “War against children” In the Israel War/ Hamas was killed within four months more children than in all other armed conflicts around the world in four years, UN service chief for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) stressed yesterday. “Throwy. The number of children reported to have been killed in just over four months in Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in all the wars together in the last four years,” he stressed via X (of former Twitter) Philippe Lazarini, denouncing this “war against children”. Despite the negotiations being held for weeks, the countries interceding — Qatar, Egypt, USA — were unable to secure a truce agreement, which would allow Israeli hostages to be released and in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as well as increasing the amount of aid entering the enclave. “We are not close to an agreement,” the spokesman for Qatar’s diplomacy Majid al Ansari acknowledged yesterday, as Hamas demands a definitive cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli troops to close an agreement, meeting Israel’s categorical rejection, which on his side claims to be given a detailed list of the hostages remaining in life. Yesterday the Israeli authorities announced the death of a soldier held captive in the Gaza Strip, Itai Chen, who also had American citizenship. In eastern Jerusalem, 12-year-old, Rami Hamdan al-Halhuli, succumbed to his injuries yesterday, after being hit by bullets from Israeli order enforcement forces. It was the first death in episodes in the city, sacred to the believers of three religions, after the ramazani began. And at night in al-Jib, near Jerusalem, two Palestinians, 16 and 23, were killed in clashes with Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.