The first aid shipment via the sea has reached the Gaza Strip, a charity announced Saturday, a day ahead of the planned restart of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.
Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen said its team on the ground in Gaza had finished unloading the first maritime delivery, the Times of Israel reported. “All cargo was offloaded and is being readied for distribution in Gaza,” the organization said.
The delivery included “almost 200 tons of food,” the group added.
World Central Kitchen built a temporary jetty to allow the flat-bottomed barge to approach Gaza to compensate for the lack of a port, the Times of Israel said.
There is little information available about how exactly the food will be distributed to Gaza’s civilians.
A second ship with 240 tones of food aid, along with two fork lifts and a crane to handle future deliveries, is being readied to sail from Cyprus, the charity said.
The desperately needed food arrived as stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were expected to restart in Qatar as soon as Sunday, Egyptian officials said.
The new talks would mark the first time Israeli officials and Hamas leaders joined the negotiations since the start of Ramadan last Monday.
International mediators initially hoped to secure a six-week deal before the Muslim holy month started, but Hamas and Israel clashed over the proposed terms.
Hamas leaders have presented a new ceasefire proposal that includes the release of women, children, elderly and ill Israeli hostages in exchange for 700-1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including at least 100 serving life sentences.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under increasing pressure as Gazans face severe food shortages, said that the suggested truce was still grounded in “unrealistic demands.”
CNN reported that Israel’s war cabinet was set to meet Saturday evening to develop guidelines for the Israeli delegation at the talks.
The latest talks are set to begin amid news that one in three children under two years old in the Gaza Strip are acutely malnourished, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
“Children’s malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in #Gaza,” the main agency operating in the enclave posted on X. “Famine is looming.”
The agency also believes that more children have been killed in the area over the last five months that in four years of worldwide conflict, reports said.
In other developments:
With Post wires