Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 7 Aid Workers & Force Closure Of The First Maritime Aid Corridor To Gaza

Aid Convoy — Image Credits: World Central Kitchen/Twitter

Cyprus vowed on Tuesday to maintain the Gaza maritime aid corridor irrespective of the killings in an Israeli strike of seven aid employees unloading the humanitarian aid in the war-ravaged territory of Palestine.

Instead, those involved must double down on our efforts to deliver more assistance as the necessities drastically escalate, stated Nikos Christodoulides, the Cypriot President, at an aid coordination hub in Larnaca.

Earlier, the government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis informed the reporters that the deadly strike wouldn’t impact the initiative, but the re-coordination would have to occur due to security issues.

The seven employees from the World Central Kitchen (abbreviated as WCK) charity were killed on Monday by what the US-based group referred to as a “targeted strike” as they were leaving a warehouse after unloading aid delivered by vessel.

WCK mentioned it immediately halted operations in Gaza. Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged an “unintentional” strike and noted that there would be a thorough investigation. Several nations, including the US and Britain, condemned this strike.

Cyprus is the closest European Union member to the Gaza Strip, roughly 360 kilometres to the north. For several months, it has been pushing to establish the aid corridor.

The first vessel, organized by WCK and the Spanish charity Open Arms, successfully delivered the cargo to Gaza on 15 March. The next, Jennifer, reached on Monday. Tracking websites like Vesselfinder.com indicated the craft sailing to Cyprus on Tuesday.

Christodoulides reported on Monday that preparations were in place for a third voyage and that Cyprus was coordinating with the US, which sent military engineers to build a port in Gaza to facilitate aid deliveries.

Several nations have resorted to airdropping aid into northern Gaza, where the UN says a famine is looming.

The aid groups have played a critical role, mentioning that the airdrops and maritime deliveries can’t make up for the lack of aid getting delivered overland, which is currently at a fraction of the pre-war levels per the UN.

Christodoulides addressed the concerns, stating in Larnaca that the corridor wasn’t a substitute for the other routes, namely the all-essential land routes and airdrops. It is complementary to them.

Reference: Barrons

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