A ship with 200 tons of humanitarian aid heads to the Gaza Strip this Wednesday, March 13, after leaving Cyprus, as part of the maritime corridor announced by the European Union, and after a few days of delay. Aid is on the way at a time when hunger is ravaging the enclave, mainly in the north, where some people, most of them children, have died in recent days due to lack of food. In the midst of the alarming situation, the EU's senior diplomat, Josep Borrell, denounced that hunger is being used in Gaza as a “weapon of war.”
First modification:
5 min
The West and other nations are beginning to put in place some alternatives to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza in the midst of the ongoing war.
A ship from the Spanish NGO Open Arms is en route this Wednesday, March 13, towards the blocked Palestinian enclave, loaded with 200 tons of basic elements for survival.
This is the first route of the maritime corridor announced on March 8 by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and whose start was scheduled for last weekend. However, the mission left Cyprus a few days late due to “technical problems,” according to the island's government.
Besides, Four US Army ships left Virginia on Tuesday, March 12, loaded with tons of equipment and steel segments, to build a floating dock off the coast of Gaza for food delivery.
It is a hope for thousands of people in dire need of food, water, medicine and other vital resources after more than five months of war and a total blockade by Israeli troopsin response to the Hamas attack against the Jewish-majority country on October 7.
The operation, promoted by the European Union (EU), the United States, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, comes after months of warnings of the risk of famine in the Palestinian enclave. The UN warned, at the end of February, that famine is “imminent” in the north of the enclave, where it is more difficult for the scarce humanitarian aid to reach, but the hunger situation extends throughout that Palestinian territory.
Borrell: hunger in Gaza is being used as a “weapon of war”
European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday criticized the shortage of aid reaching Gaza, calling the situation a “man-made” disaster.
Before the UN Security Council, Borrell assured that hunger is being used as a “weapon of war.”
“This humanitarian crisis is not a natural disaster, it is not a flood, it is not an earthquake, it is man-made,” remarked the senior EU diplomat, from the UN headquarters in New York.
Josep Borrell, the foreign policy chief for the EU, said that Israel is using starvation as a “war arm” in Gaza by preventing the entry of life-saving aid from the enclave's land crossings.
Borrell added, “When we condemn this happening in Ukraine, we have to use the same words… pic.twitter.com/1Sz4A50huq
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) March 12, 2024
Previously, Borrell and UN agencies have directly targeted Israel as a country that continually prevents the entry of aid to Gazans. However, Benjamin Netanyahu's Administration has rejected those accusations.
The Israeli Government has even accused the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) of “lying.” However, food is scarce in the south and center of the enclave and in the north there is no aid.
On March 8, several hospitals and the Ministry of Health in the besieged enclave indicated that at least 20 people had died due to lack of food and dehydration, most of them children.
Dozens of internally displaced people, interviewed by the AP news agency, described the situation of hunger and explained that many consume boiled herbs, in an attempt to make up for the lack of food.
For the first time during the ongoing war, aid enters northern Gaza directly
In the midst of pressure and the alert about a famine that could hit the entire Gazan territory, the Israeli Army indicated that six trucks with humanitarian assistance crossed on the night of Tuesday, March 12, directly from Israel to northern Gaza, for a new route.
“In accordance with government directives, six humanitarian aid trucks from the World Food Program (WFP) entered the northern Gaza Strip last night (Tuesday) through gate 96 of the security fence,” the military institution said. it's a statement.
It is the first time since the war escalated last October that aid enters directly into the north of that Palestinian territory, where Israeli troops began their offensive.
Israel assured that the new route to deliver urgently needed items for survival is part of a project to guarantee the delivery of supplies to the area.
Given the lack of alternatives to deliver humanitarian aid to Gazans by land, on March 5, Jordan ordered the airdrop of food with the help of its Air Force planes.
An action that the United States later joined. But the operation is also risky for the inhabitants of Gaza. At least five people died on March 8 when they were hit by wooden boxes with humanitarian aid.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
#Borrell #hunger #Gaza #weapon #war #ship #promised