The ship carrying food aid has reached the coast of the Gaza Strip on Friday, but hopes for a ceasefire to rescue its population from starvation suffered a new blow after Israel rejected the latest truce counter-proposal from Hamas. The Open Arms vessel, towed from Cyprus, could be seen in the distance off the beach of the coastal strip, but many logistical details remained unclear about how it would reach Gaza and be safely distributed to people on the brink of famine. A spokesperson for the World Central Kitchen charity arranging the ship’s voyage declined to divulge the “full logistical information” because of the changing situation but said that a second vessel would sail soon and that work on a temporary jetty in Gaza was underway.
US mediators for indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have indicated that they still see a prospect of a deal on an exchange of captives and a humanitarian pause as the best path forward, despite a steep rise in civilian deaths since an Israeli ground operation entered the overcrowded enclave on October 7. Amid widespread warnings of a full-scale famine, US Secretary of State John Kerry called for a ceasefire within weeks and said he was confident a deal would be reached before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
But a Hamas-linked intelligence website warned Palestinians that working with Israel, including facilitating the delivery of food, would be considered an act of treason. In a statement, Al Majd Security, a body set up by the militant group to monitor Palestinian entities that deal with Israel, said that cooperation with the enemy would be punished with ‘the most severe punishment.’
Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official said Netanyahu’s continued pursuit of war demonstrated that his goal was genocide against the Gaza people. He confirmed that a Hamas delegation would travel to Cairo on Thursday “to follow up on” negotiations under Egyptian-Qatari efforts.
In a statement, UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths repeated calls for a halt in hostilities to allow urgent food deliveries to the crowded enclave and called on Israel to lift its restrictions on the movement of goods into and out of the Gaza Strip. Griffiths also urged Lebanese authorities to prevent funds from being funneled into Hamas by land from Lebanon, saying that such an effort would be “of the utmost importance” for Palestinians.
An Israeli military spokesman denied claims that Israeli troops fired on a crowd of people waiting for aid in northern Gaza. Still, he acknowledged that the army had been carrying out intense bombardment in that area and that thousands of buildings had been targeted. He emphasized that the military was trying to target rocket launchers, adding that it was difficult to control an area of such size in an ongoing conflict.
