A tug-and-barge shipment of aid is
approaching the shores of Gaza, bearing about 200 tonnes of much-needed food
and other supplies, and a second shipment is now being packed aboard a small
freighter. World
Central Kitchen, the NGO behind the plan, acknowledges that it is a hail-Mary
pass: no suitable receiving pier exists, and their team is still working to
build one out of rubble as the tug nears its destination.
"We have crews working 24-7 and
we are really trying to build this 60-meter-long jetty that will allow us then
successfully, if things go well, to start bringing in humanitarian aid in
bigger quantities," WCK founder Jose Andres told NPR. "The
necessity and the urgency are so great that the worst thing we can do is not
try new ways."
The
location of the destination is being kept secret for now; Gaza's security
situation is precarious and there have been previous incidents of interference
with aid convoys.
The tug Open Arms appears
to have encountered GPS disruption or spoofing during its voyage. As it transited south of Cyprus,
its AIS position jumped from the Eastern Mediterranean to the center of Beirut
International Airport. Similar patterns of "impossible" AIS movement
have been detected in areas with suspected GPS jamming activity, like the
Russian sector of the Black Sea.
A
second, much larger aid shipment is already being loaded aboard a small
freighter at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. As with the first, the cargo is
marked with the logo of the UAE's aid organization.
Andres acknowledged that it would be
far easier to deliver aid in the volume required if border restrictions on Gaza
were lifted.
However, there are substantial political obstacles to clear before achieving
that goal, and Andres noted simply that "this is not happening and this is
out of our control."
The
Biden administration has reached a similar conclusion, and has launched a
1,000-man mission to build and operate a temporary landing pier on a beach in
northern Gaza. A flotilla of U.S. Army
landing ships is under way from Virginia to deliver the equipment, and the
operation should be up and running within about 60 days.