A Gaza-bound ship that left Cyprus with 1,200 tons of food aid nears Israeli port

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — A ship that set off from Cyprus loaded with 1,200 tons of food supplies for the Gaza Strip is approaching the Israeli port of Ashdod on Tuesday in a renewed effort to alleviate the worsening crisis in the Palestinian territory, where food security experts say the “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding.

The Panamanian-flagged vessel is loaded with 52 containers carrying food aid such as pasta, rice, baby food and canned goods. Israeli customs officials had screened the aid at the Cypriot port of Limassol, from where the ship departed on Monday.

Some 700 tons of the aid is from Cyprus, purchased with money donated by the United Arab Emirates to the so-called Amalthea Fund, set up last year for donors to help with seaborne aid. The rest comes from Italy, the Maltese government, a Catholic religious order in Malta and the Kuwaiti nongovernmental organization Al Salam Association.

“The situation is beyond dire,” Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told The Associated Press.

Cyprus was the staging area last year for 22,000 tons of aid deliveries by ship directly to Gaza through a pier operated by the international charity World Central Kitchen and a U.S. military-run docking facility known as the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system.