The first Open Arms food aid ship reached the coast of the Gaza Strip today, where the population has been dealt a fresh blow after Israel rejected Hamas’ latest truce counter-offer.
The charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) intends to deliver 200 tonnes of food to a temporary berth, although exact details of how the supplies will be brought ashore have not yet been specified.
If the new sea route proves successful, it could help ease the hunger crisis in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from malnutrition and hospitals in the hardest-hit northern neighbourhoods are reporting children dying of starvation.
The deadly war began with a Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in Israel on 7 October. In response to the attack, Israel launched a retaliatory military operation on the Gaza Strip and declared a full siege of the enclave. Since then, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 31,000 people and displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
Hamas presented mediators with its latest counter-proposal for a ceasefire for several weeks, but Israel’s representative rejected it, saying it was based on “unrealistic demands.”
Like previous offers by both sides over the past two months of talks, the Hamas proposal, seen by Reuters, calls for the release of dozens of Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Hamas also is calling for second-stage negotiations that will eventually lead to a complete end to the war. Israel has persisted in saying it will only discuss temporary pauses in the fighting and will not discuss an end to the war until Hamas is destroyed.
Mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar had hoped to reach a cease-fire by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but that deadline expired this week. According to the United Nations, all 2.3 million Gazans are suffering from a food crisis and a quarter are on the brink of starvation, especially in the north of the enclave.
Israel, which has closed all land routes into Gaza except for two crossings on the territory’s southern edge, denies blame for the famine and says aid agencies need to do a better job of distributing food. The agencies say they need better access and security, which are the responsibility of Israeli troops who have blockaded the Strip and stormed its towns.
In one of the worst incidents previously reported, Gaza’s medical services said on Thursday night that at least 21 people were killed and 150 wounded, blaming Israeli troops for opening fire on a crowd queuing for food at a road junction near Gaza City.
Israel denies blaming its troops, as it has in past incidents, including the deadliest to date, on 29 February, when more than 100 people were killed.
