The Latest | Efforts ramp up to deliver aid to Gaza as US and Europe focus on a sea corridor
Efforts are ramping up to deliver more desperately needed aid to war-ravaged Gaza, with the United States and Europe focusing on opening a sea route in a signal of the West’s growing frustration with Israel’s conduct in the war
Efforts ramped up on Friday to deliver more desperately needed aid to war-ravaged Gaza, with the United States and Europe focusing on opening a sea route, underscoring the West's growing frustration with Israel’s conduct in the war.
A top European Union official said a charity ship will head to Gaza as a pilot operation for a new humanitarian sea corridor. Ursula von der Leyen spoke in Cyprus, where she came to inspect preparations to send more aid to Gaza by sea.
Just hours earlier, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. military will set up a temporary pier on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast. He unveiled the plan during his State of the Union address to Congress after last week approving the U.S. military airdropping aid into Gaza.
The plans follow an announcement Thursday by Hamas that negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages will resume next week, dimming hopes that mediators could broker a truce before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin at sundown Sunday.
After more than five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Israel’s near-total blockade of Gaza and the fighting have made it nearly impossible to deliver aid in most of Gaza, aid groups say. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder
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