The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said yesterday that she expects the maritime humanitarian corridor between Cyprus and Gaza to be opened by the weekend, in order to alleviate the crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
US President Joe Biden announced a day earlier that the US military would build a temporary "wharf" on the Mediterranean coast of Gaza, amid warnings from the United Nations of famine among the area's 2,3 million residents.
Negotiations on a possible ceasefire in Israel's war against Hamas have reached an impasse, and the UN human rights office has called on Israel not to launch a military offensive in the border town of Rafah because it would cause further "mass casualties".
After visiting the facilities in Larnaca, Cyprus, Ursula von der Leyen said that the maritime corridor is being initiated by the EU, the United Arab Emirates and the USA. She did not provide details on where aid would be delivered in Gaza or comment on Biden's announcement about a port where ships with food, water and medicine would dock.
American officials said it would take weeks to build such a facility, and hospitals in Gaza are already reporting children dying of malnutrition. The UN says opening additional land routes should remain a priority.
"No American troops will be on the ground," Biden said, without specifying where the "dock" might be built or who would distribute the aid.
In reaction to Biden's speech, a high-ranking official of the Israeli government said yesterday: "Israel and the US are in coordination regarding the maritime route for the delivery of humanitarian aid. It will be enabled subject to a security check".
A UN expert yesterday criticized US efforts to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza as "absurd" and "cynical" methods as long as military aid to Israel continues.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed Biden's comments, but the reaction of ordinary Palestinians was much less positive, Reuters reported.
"Instead of telling us they're going to build a port to help us, let them stop sending weapons to shoot us," said Hassan Maslah, displaced from Khan Yunis, in Rafah.
“All those American weapons are killing our children, and they're killing us everywhere we go. We don't need help from them, we need them to stop the killing, to stop the death," said Maslah, while nearby Gazans sorted through the rubble after another Israeli attack.
Michael Fahri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, yesterday criticized US efforts to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza as "absurd" and "cynical" methods as long as military aid to Israel continues.
In a joint statement issued yesterday by the EU, the US, Britain, the UAE and others, it is said: "Delivering humanitarian aid directly to Gaza by sea will be complex and our countries will continue to assess and adjust efforts to deliver aid as efficiently as possible."
The US and other countries also drop aid from the air, but it is a small amount.
Five Palestinians were killed and several wounded yesterday when aid packages from a plane mistakenly fell on them in northwestern Gaza, said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Gaza Civil Emergency Management Agency.
Palestinian health authorities announced that eight people from the same family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their house in Khan Yunis.
Egyptian security sources said ceasefire talks, which are being held in Cairo without an Israeli delegation, will resume tomorrow at the expected start of Ramadan, amid fears that violence could escalate across the region during the Muslim holy month.
Children also die of hunger
Famine is most acute in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by Israeli forces and has suffered long-term disruptions in food supplies. According to the health ministry, at least 20 people died of malnutrition and dehydration at Kamal Advan and Shifa hospitals in the north. Most of the deceased are children, including fifteen-year-olds, as well as a 72-year-old man, the Associated Press reported.
Particularly vulnerable children also die in the south, where access to aid is more regular.
At the Emirates Hospital in Rafah, 16 premature babies have died of malnutrition-related causes over the past five weeks, one of the doctors told the AP earlier this week.
Israeli bombing and ground attacks have already taken a heavy toll on children, who along with women make up nearly three-quarters of the more than 30.800 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
Malnutrition generally leads to death slowly and affects children and the elderly first, the AP said, adding that other factors may play a role.
Undernourished mothers have difficulty breastfeeding their children. Diarrhea, which is rampant in Gaza due to a lack of clean water and sanitation, means many can't keep down any of the calories they eat, said Anurada Narayan, UNICEF's child nutrition expert. Malnutrition weakens the immune system, which sometimes leads to death from other diseases.
Israel has largely blocked the entry of food, water, medicine and other supplies since launching an assault on Gaza following Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, allowing only sporadic aid trucks through two crossings in the south.
Israel blames the growing hunger in Gaza on UN agencies, claiming that they are failing to distribute supplies piling up at the Gaza crossings. UNRWA, the top UN agency in Gaza, says Israel restricts some goods and imposes complicated inspections that slow entry.
Distribution inside Gaza is also severely restricted, with UN officials saying Israeli forces regularly turn back convoys, the army often denies safe passage amid fighting, and hungry Palestinians snatch aid from trucks en route to delivery points.
Israel bowed to US and international pressure and announced this week that it would open crossings for direct delivery of aid to northern Gaza and allow sea shipments.
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