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09-03-2024
UNITED NATIONS/ WASHINGTON: A maritime corridor to Gaza could begin operating this weekend to boost aid to the territory, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says.
It comes a day after President Biden said the US planned to build a temporary port in Gaza.
The UN says a quarter of Gaza’s population is on the brink of famine and children are starving to death.
On Friday reports said five people had been killed by airdropped aid whose parachutes did not deploy properly.
The media quote an eyewitness and the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza as saying that the five people had been killed on Friday when at least one parachute failed to properly deploy and a parcel fell on them. Media also quoted a Gaza doctor as saying five people had been killed by an air drop.
The incident is said to have happened in Shati Camp in northern Gaza. Social media footage shows aid being dropped from a cargo plane and a number of parachutes fail to fully open. In one of the clips, aid parcels can be seen falling without a parachute.
Jordanian state TV quoted a source as denying that a Jordanian aircraft was involved in the incident. On Thursday aircraft from Jordan, Belgium, Egypt, France and the Netherlands carried out airdrops.
As conditions in Gaza have become increasingly dire, the US and other nations have resorted to dropping aid in by air but aid organizations had already been critical of the air drops, saying they were a last resort and incapable of meeting the soaring need.
Speaking in Cyprus, Ms Leyen said Gaza was “facing a humanitarian catastrophe” and the sea corridor would enable the delivery of large quantities of additional aid.
A joint statement from the European Commission, Cyprus, the US, UK and UAE said operating a sea corridor would be “complex” and they would continue to press Israel to expand delivery of aid by road, facilitating more routes and opening additional crossings.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “We continue to urge Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza as the fastest way to get aid to those who need it.”
Israel welcomed the initiative and urged other countries to join it.
A foreign ministry spokesman said aid would be delivered after security checks were carried out “in accordance with Israeli standards”.
Israel denies impeding the entry of aid to Gaza and accuses aid organizations of failing to distribute it.
On Thursday Biden said the US military would construct a pier to transport supplies from ships at sea to the shore, but US officials said it would take “a number of weeks” to set up. (Int’l News Desk)
