A ship loaded with 1,200 tons of food for Gaza approached the Israeli port of Ashdod on Tuesday, in a renewed effort to ease the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where famine is at risk.
The Panamanian-flagged boat was inspected by Israeli authorities in the Cypriot port of Limassol before departure.
It is transporting food aid such as pasta, rice, baby food and canned goods.
About 700 tons of the aid is coming from Cyprus, purchased with funds donated by the United Arab Emirates to the Amalthea Fund, created last year for donors to help with maritime aid, reports Euronews.
The rest of the aid comes from Italy, the Maltese government, a Catholic order in Malta and the non-governmental equestrian organization from Kuwait, Al Salam Association.
The Cypriot Foreign Ministry announced that the aid effort is led by the United Nations, but is a coordinated initiative.
Once unloaded in Israel, UN staff will arrange for the aid to be transported by truck to storage areas and feeding stations managed by World Central Kitchen.
The humanitarian organization is highly trusted in Gaza and was responsible for the first aid shipment from Cyprus last year on a tugboat. Sea shipments can deliver much larger amounts of aid than the airdrops that some countries have made to Gaza.
Dozens killed in Gaza
At least 26 people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday, according to local hospitals. The toll includes at least eight people killed in Israeli strikes on tents housing displaced people in Khan Younis and four more in an attack on a tent in Deir al-Balah.
The deaths come a day after a Hamas source said the group had accepted the latest ceasefire proposal in Gaza. Israeli authorities have yet to respond.
Israel had announced plans to occupy Gaza City and other densely populated areas after ceasefire talks collapsed last month.
The move sparked international criticism and raised concerns about a growing humanitarian disaster in Gaza, which experts say is heading towards famine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called reports of famine “lies” spread by Hamas. However, the UN warned last week that malnutrition levels in Gaza are at their highest since the start of the war.
Record number of aid workers killed
Meanwhile, a record 383 humanitarian workers were killed worldwide in 2024, with almost half of them killed in Gaza, the UN humanitarian office announced on Tuesday.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said this record number of killings should serve as a call to protect civilians in conflict zones, as well as those trying to help them.
"Attacks on this scale, without any accountability, are a clear disgrace of international inaction and apathy," Fletcher said in a statement.
"As a humanitarian community, we demand – again – that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers, and hold those who carry out these attacks accountable."
