- WFP says it gets first aid convoy to Gaza City since Feb. 20
- Convoy delivers enough aid for 25,000 people
- Access needs to be 'regular and consistent', WFP spokesperson says
The charity ship Open Arms was seen sailing out of Larnaca port, towing a barge containing flour, rice and protein. The mission was funded mostly by the United Arab Emirates and organised by US-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK).
The journey to Gaza takes about 15 hours but a heavy tow barge could make the trip take considerably longer, possibly up to two days. Cyprus is just over 320 km north-west of Gaza.
Israel's military campaign against Gaza has killed at least 31,184 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities, and injured 72,889.
Washington had said for weeks that it hoped for a truce deal in time for the Muslim holy month Ramadan that began this week, but it has so far failed to materialise.
WCK said it was building a landing jetty with material from destroyed buildings and rubble, a separate initiative to a plan announced by US. President Joe Biden last week to build a temporary pier.
Construction of the jetty was "well underway", WCK founder Jose Andres said in a post on X, posting a picture of bulldozers apparently levelling out ground close to the sea.
WCK Activation Manager Juan Camilo Jimenez told Reuters a second vessel would depart within the next few days.
The UN humanitarian office welcomed efforts to provide aid by sea and air, but said it would not be enough. Aid agencies say such efforts can provide only limited relief as long as most land crossings are completely sealed off by Israel.
"It's not a substitute for the overland transport of food and other emergency aid into Gaza," said spokesperson Jens Laerke. "It cannot make up for that."
The World Food Programme said Tuesday it had managed to get an aid convoy to Gaza City in the first successful convoy to the north since Feb. 20.
"We were finally able to deliver enough food for 25,000 people to Gaza City in the early hours of this morning. This... proves that moving food by road is possible," spokesperson Shaza Moghraby said.
The UN estimates a quarter of the population in Gaza is now at risk of starvation.
Ceasefire talks have so far failed to reach a breakthrough, with Israel saying it is interested only in a temporary truce to free hostages, and Hamas saying it will let them go only as part of a deal to permanently end the war.
Qatar, mediator alongside Egypt and the United States, said it was working to establish a permanent ceasefire, rather than a short-term truce.
"We are not near to a Gaza ceasefire deal but remain hopeful," Qata Foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a press conference in Doha.
