For a large-scale humanitarian operation designed to save the people of Gaza from the threat of famine after five months of war, destruction, deprivation and the blocking of aid by Israel, this was a strange beginning. On Friday, March 15, a boat chartered by the World Central Kitchen (WCK) organization, headed by Spanish-American chef José Andrés, delivered 100 tonnes of aid (the equivalent of 12 trucks) by sea, without docking. The ship pulled a barge from the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, and pushed it close to the coast. On arrival, Israeli soldiers were deployed on the beach south of Gaza City, to watch over the unloading process. In the preceding days, a jetty of bricks and mortar had been built in a hurry.

Contacted by telephone, Andrés, whose organization is already present in Gaza, said he has been "working for several months on the project for this maritime route" between Cyprus and Gaza. "It's a test," he said of his operation, admitting that "it's not huge." The "test" is as political as it is humanitarian in scope, and goes far beyond this small operation.

Faced with Israel's persistent refusal to allow aid into the enclave and its desire to get rid of UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for aid to Gazans but which Israel accuses of collusion with Hamas, the international community has been forced to think about and adopt new procedures. The idea of a "maritime route" was first proposed in November 2023. While aid by land was severely hampered by the Israelis, alternative scenarios began to circulate, both in the United States and in Europe. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, considered close to the Israeli government, floated the idea of a sea route from Larnaca. The action plan was built around a triangle made up of Cyprus, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, with the support of Washington.

It excludes UNRWA from the plan, at a time when two investigations are currently underway – one is internal to the UN, into the personnel Israel accuses of involvement in the October 7 attack; the other is external, to identify desirable reforms. Nineteen countries or institutions froze their funding to the agency in February, which threatened to paralyze it. But "donors of good will," according to one source, could follow in the footsteps of the three countries that have already resumed funding, because they feel "it would be absurd to do without UNRWA now." The US, which until January was the agency's biggest contributor, could cut its aid by a third.

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