The “prospect of famine is real” in Gaza, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Sunday, as a Royal Navy ship made her way to the Mediterranean to assist in the establishment of a maritime aid corridor.
According to Cameron, Britain is establishing a “new temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to get aid in as quickly and securely as possible” in collaboration with the US, Cyprus, and other parties.
“We need to continue to explore all options, including by sea and air, to ease the desperate plight of some of the world’s most vulnerable people,” he said.
Despite the fact that seven humanitarian workers were killed in an Israeli strike while transporting supplies into the war-torn Palestinian region, Cyprus has sworn to keep up the humanitarian corridor.
Seven employees of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity, three of whom were British, passed away on Monday as they were leaving a warehouse after unloading supplies that had been transported by ship.
A $9.7 million pledge for assistance, supplies, and knowledge to help establish the marine route connecting Gaza and Cyprus was also made by the UK.
On March 15, a first ship, arranged by the Spanish humanitarian organization Open Arms and WCK, effectively used the corridor to transfer its cargo to Gaza. March 30 saw the second depart from Cyprus.
President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, announced on Monday that plans were in motion for a third expedition, and that his country was working with the US, which had dispatched military engineers to construct a port in Gaza to enable the delivery of humanitarian goods.
As the circumstances in Gaza worsen, donors have looked at other options like airdrops and sea cargoes.
help organizations, however, have taken issue, arguing that airdrops and sea deliveries cannot compensate for the deficiency of help supplied overland, which is, according to the UN, only a small portion of its pre-war levels.
1,170 individuals, primarily civilians, lost their lives in the Gaza War, which began on October 7 as a result of an unprecedented invasion into Israel by Hamas militants, according to Israeli authorities.
More than 250 captives were taken by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants; of them, 129 are still in Gaza, 34 of whom the army claims are dead.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run area of Gaza reports that Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,137 individuals in Gaza, the majority of them were women and children.
