The delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip from Cyprus has been delayed. On Monday afternoon it was unclear when the ship “Open Arms” would leave the port of Larnaca. It has about 200 tons of drinking water, medicine and food on board.
The delay is partly due to questions about the unloading and distribution of relief supplies. “There were problems with some of these issues,” Cypriot Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos said. A second shipment of humanitarian aid is ready in the port. The journey from Larnaca to Gaza takes up to 60 hours.
The US military wants to build a port
It is unclear where and how the ship will discharge its cargo after arriving in the waters off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Delivering the goods is seen as a major challenge because there is only a small fishing port that is not deep enough for cargo ships. The US military therefore wants to set up a temporary port together with international partners, but according to the US, its construction will take two months.
Goods must not fall into the hands of Hamas
A political science professor suspected that the ship’s repeatedly delayed departure was because Israel wanted to ensure that the aid would not be accepted and distributed by the militant Palestinian organization Hamas or other extremist organizations.
The humanitarian situation is getting worse
According to aid organizations, the humanitarian situation of people in the Gaza Strip has been deteriorating dramatically for weeks. Everything is missing. The German government is pushing for more land aid, saying it is “the easiest way to get humanitarian aid to Gaza.” But “more border crossings also need to be opened,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
Source: Krone
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