Second Gaza Aid Shipment Ready For Departure, Says Cyprus’ President

(CTN News) – Following the arrival of a first aid shipment overnight in Gaza, Cyprus’ president said on Saturday that a second shipment of food aid was on its way by sea to the besieged Palestinian territory.

A shipment of nearly 200 tons of food arrived late on Friday, marking the first shipment through a new route of aid to the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by five months of war.

“Cyprus has dispatched its first ship to Cyprus, and we are preparing to dispatch the second ship at the same time,” Nikos Christodoulides, the Cypriot president, told journalists at a press conference.

240 tons of aid were on board the second vessel, which was moored at Larnaca port awaiting the signal to depart.

The new shipment included pallets of canned goods and bulk products, according to the American charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), which arranged the mission with the UAE and Spanish charity Open Arms.

A crane as well as two forklifts were also on board the second boat to assist with future maritime deliveries to Gaza, according to WCK. Eight workers would accompany the cargo boat on the crew ship to operate the machinery and unload the aid, according to the statement.

During the first mission, the charity loaded aid onto a makeshift jetty that WCK had constructed from rubble.

Open Arms, which provided the ship, hopes that this corridor will relieve hunger, relieve suffering, and restore humanity to civilians.”

In a statement on Saturday, the main United Nations organization operating in Gaza stated that one in three children under the age of two in northern Gaza are acutely malnourished, and that famine is imminent.

The Israeli air and ground campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, has forced the enclave’s 2.3 million residents from their homes and left them in need of food and other necessities.

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