GAZA – A ship towing a barge loaded with food arrived off Gaza on March 15 in a test run for a new aid route by sea from Cyprus into the devastated Palestinian enclave, where famine looms after five months of Israel’s military campaign.

The ship, arranged by the World Central Kitchen charity, is carrying nearly 200 tonnes of aid to be delivered via a jetty being prepared in Gaza, with a second ship already on its way.

There are few details on how the aid delivery and distribution will work once it is ready to unload in Gaza, with United Nations relief agencies having described huge obstacles to getting relief supplies to those in need.

If the new sea route is successful, it may help to ease the hunger crisis affecting Gaza, where much of the population faces malnourishment, and hospitals in the worst-stricken northern areas have reported children dying of starvation.

However, bringing in aid by sea and through airdrops will not be enough to make up for difficulties getting in supplies by land, aid agencies have repeatedly said.

The war in Gaza began on Oct 7 when Hamas fighters rampaged into Israel killing 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s air and ground campaign has since killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, while driving most of the population from their homes and pushing the enclave towards famine. REUTERS