A tug operated by a migrant rescue charity is preparing to tow the first barge filled with supplies to Gaza on a new maritime corridor, according to officials and the group.
Final preparations were underway in Larnaca, Cyprus, loading the barge with food for the first mission on the controversial sea corridor.
The 351-dwt Open Arms (built 1974), operated by a Barcelona-based charity, has been docked since mid-February with food and water on board waiting for the maritime corridor to open, the charity said.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the corridor could start operating at the weekend but ship tracking showed the Open Arms in port on Monday.
The announcement of the corridor followed US President Joe Biden’s plans to build a temporary pier on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast amid United Nations warnings of famine in the territory.
Opening up a sea route will take several weeks, it is estimated.
US military engineers will build the facility from supplies brought in by naval vessels off the coast of the old Gaza City port, aid sources told The Guardian newspaper.
The US has turned to the sea because too few trucks are making it into Gaza at two southern access points.
A UN special rapporteur on the right to food told reporters it was absurd that the US was contemplating complex engineering projects to reach an area blockaded by its own ally.
All possible routes
“From a humanitarian perspective, from an international perspective, from a human rights perspective, it is absurd in a dark, cynical way,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The European Union said the maritime corridor should be only one part of the mission to feed the 2.3m residents of Gaza.
“The delivery of humanitarian assistance directly to Gaza by sea will be complex,” said Cyprus, the EU, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the US in a joint statement on Friday.
“This maritime corridor can — and must — be part of a sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial commodities into Gaza through all possible routes.”
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