The first aid ship, which followed the maritime route from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip, was spotted off the coast of Gaza City on Friday morning, according to reporters from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Video footage and images captured by AFP photographers showed the ship belonging to the Spanish charitable organization “Open Arms” nearing the besieged coastal enclave.
According to the non-governmental organization, the ship carries 200 tons of food supplies for Gaza residents threatened by famine amid the six-month-long war between Israel and Hamas.
The ship inaugurated a maritime corridor from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip, which has been under siege since the outbreak of the war. The United Nations fears an imminent and widespread famine, especially in hard-to-reach northern areas where over 300,000 people have remained without displacement.
The war between Israel and Hamas erupted with an unprecedented attack launched by the movement on the Israeli state, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
In response to the attack, Israel vowed to eliminate the movement controlling the Gaza Strip, carrying out a military campaign that resulted in massive destruction and the deaths of 31,341 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-affiliated Health Ministry.
