According to local sources, the first relief ship that had landed on the borders of the beleaguered Gaza Strip a day earlier had finished being unloaded on Saturday.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that “small boats began unloading the ship’s cargo on Friday and transporting it towards the shore of Gaza City.”
They said, “Unloading operations were completed on Saturday morning.”
200 tons of food provided by the US company World Central Kitchen were towed by the Open Arms.
The goal of the relief operation, Operation Safeena, is to open a maritime aid corridor that the Greek Cypriot administration has requested and that the US, UK, and EU are backing.
After Hamas’ cross-border assault on October 7, 2023, Israel began its war on Gaza. Since then, it has caused extensive destruction and displacement in addition to killing up to 31,500 Palestinians and driving some areas to the verge of starvation.
The International Court of Justice, which has accused Israel of genocide, issued an interim verdict in January directing Tel Aviv to cease genocidal crimes and take steps to ensure that residents in Gaza get humanitarian assistance.
To facilitate the large-scale delivery of humanitarian goods, the US has separately announced that a temporary dock will be built on the Gaza coastline.
