A ship carrying some 200 tons of food, water and other essential supplies arrived Friday in Gaza, the first to do so via a sea route from Cyprus newly opened to help bring humanitarian aid amid Israel's war against Hamas in the territory, the Israeli military said.
The vessel, operated by the Spanish aid group Open Arms, came towing a barge bearing beans, flour, lentils, rice, tuna and canned meat, outlets including the Associated Press reported. The supplies were sent from World Central Kitchen, a charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.
The initial shipment of supplies will reportedly be distributed in Gaza's north, which was devastated by Israel's initial military push into the strip.
It's expected to be the first of multiple sea shipments to Gaza, with a second to follow once supplies from the first have been handed out.
The basic supplies have become increasingly scarce in Gaza amid Israel's ongoing war against the Hamas terror group entrenched in the territory.
Israel's war against Hamas began on Oct. 7 when the terror group launched a surprise attack on Israel, indiscriminately killing some 1,200 people and abducting about 240 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel responded with a large-scale air and land campaign aimed at rooting Hamas out of Gaza. According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, more than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza.
Civilians represent the majority of those killed in both cases.
But the war has also taken a humanitarian toll on Gaza, with movement of supplies - and people - in and out of the strip tightly restricted.
Land shipments via truck have proven inconsistent and were frequently waylaid, both in Gaza and by Israeli protesters before ever crossing the border.
A coalition of nations including the U.S. recently began conducting airdrops, but international humanitarian groups have said that that method wouldn't provide aid at the rate Gaza needs it.
President Joe Biden vowed during his State of the Union address last week to construct a harbor along Gaza's shore using U.S. military labor, to help facilitate the sea shipments.
But it could take up to two months for that project to be completed, according to military officials.
