World Central Kitchen aid heading for Gaza by boat in pilot program

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — An aid ship loaded with some 200 tons of food set sail for Gaza on Tuesday in a pilot program for the opening of a sea corridor to the territory.

The food on the aid ship was collected by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, and is being transported by the Spanish aid group Open Arms. The ship departed from the eastern Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus and is expected to arrive in Gaza in two to three days.

The United States has separately announced plans to construct a sea bridge near Gaza in order to deliver aid, but it will likely be several weeks before it is operational. President Joe Biden’s administration has provided crucial military aid for Israel while urging it to facilitate more humanitarian access.

The war began when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says the Israeli retaliatory offensive launched in response has killed at least 31,185 Palestinians. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

Israel blames the civilian death toll on Hamas because the terrorists fight in dense, residential areas. The military has said it has killed 13,000 Hamas terrorists.

The U.S., Qatar and Egypt have tried to broker a cease-fire and hostage release ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began at sundown Sunday. But the talks stalled as Hamas demanded that any temporary pause in the fighting come with guarantees for ending the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to expand the offensive into the strip’s southern city of Rafah, where half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge, and to keep fighting until Hamas has been dismantled and all the captives it is holding have been returned.

The planned sea route has the support of the European Union, the U.S., the United Arab Emirates and others. The U.S. and other countries have also launched airdrops.

The Open Arms ship is towing a barge loaded with food. Once it nears Gaza, two smaller vessels will tow the barge to a jetty being built by World Central Kitchen, which operates 65 kitchens across the territory, the group said. It plans to distribute the food in the north.

“The best security is to have enough food in Gaza,” Andrés said. “We want to make sure nothing happens to anybody.”

Israel, which controls Gaza’s coastline and all but one of its land crossings, says it supports efforts to deliver aid by sea and will inspect all cargo shipments.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was the first time a ship had been authorized to deliver aid directly to Gaza since 2005 and that the EU would work with “smaller ships” until the U.S. completes work on its floating port.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said during a visit to Beirut that there is a “mechanism” in place for larger shipments, with the goal of “a more systematic exercise with increased volumes.”