An international effort is gathering pace to get desperately needed humanitarian relief into Gaza by sea in a bid to counter overland access restrictions blamed on Israel as it battles Hamas militants, with a US charity preparing a ship to sail the maritime corridor.
The dire conditions more than five months into the war have led some countries to airdrop food and other assistance over the besieged Gaza Strip, but a parachute malfunction turned the latest operation lethal on Friday.
Five Palestinians were killed and 10 wounded north of the coastal al-Shati refugee camp, said Mohammed al-Sheikh, emergency room head nurse at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.
Photo: EPA-EFE
A witness said that he and his brother followed the parachuted aid in the hope of getting “a bag of flour.”
“Then, all of a sudden, the parachute didn’t open and fell down like a rocket,” hitting a house, Mohammed al-Ghoul said.
Jordanian and US military officials denied that aircraft from either country caused the fatalities.
“We express sympathies to the families of those who were killed,” the US Central Command said in a statement. “Contrary to some reports, this was not the result of US airdrops.”
Belgium, Egypt, France and the Netherlands were also involved in the airdrop.
In the Cypriot port of Larnaca, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed hope that the maritime corridor could open today, although details remained unclear.
She said a “pilot operation” was to be launched on Friday, aided by the United Arab Emirates, which secured “the first of many shipments of goods to the people of Gaza.”
The Spanish-flagged vessel Open Arms docked three weeks ago in Cyprus, the closest EU country to the Gaza Strip.
“World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid onto a boat headed to northern Gaza,” the charity said in a statement.
“The endeavor to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor in Gaza is making progress, and our tugboat stands prepared to embark at a moment’s notice, laden with tons of food, water, and vital supplies for Palestinian civilians,” Open Arms wrote on X.
There are no functioning ports in Gaza and officials did not say where the initial shipments would go, whether they would be subject to inspection by Israel, or who would distribute aid.
The Pentagon on Friday said that a US plan to establish a “temporary offshore maritime pier” in Gaza would take up to 60 days and would likely involve more than 1,000 American personnel.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s growing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to mount, with the Democrat captured on a hot mic saying that he and the Israeli leader would need to have a “come to Jesus meeting.”
The comments by Biden came as he spoke with US Senator Michael Bennet in the US Capitol building following Thursday night’s State of the Union address.
In the exchange, Bennet congratulates Biden on his speech and urges the president to keep pressing Netanyahu on growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza.
Biden then responds using Netanyahu’s nickname, saying: “I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting.”
An aide to the president standing nearby then speaks quietly into the president’s ear, appearing to alert Biden that microphones remained on as he worked the room.
“I’m on a hot mic here,” Biden says after being alerted. “Good. That’s good.”
The president on Friday acknowledged the comments, lightheartedly poking at reporters that they were “eavesdropping” on his conversation.
Asked if he thought Netanyahu should be doing more to alleviate the humanitarian suffering, Biden responded: “Yes, he does.”
Additional reporting by AP
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