Gaza/Tel Aviv, 16 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) — Following the arrival by sea of a first aid shipment of aid for the Gaza Strip, almost 200 tons of food for the sealed-off territory's population have been brought safely ashore.

"The entire shipment has been unloaded and is being prepared for distribution on the Gaza coast," the Spanish organization behind the mission, World Central Kitchen (WCK), said on Saturday.

The Open Arms ship set sail from the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Tuesday and reached the waters off Gaza on Friday. 

The organization, which was founded by José Andrés, a Spanish celebrity chef living in the United States, is currently preparing another ship with relief supplies for Gaza in Larnaca.

It is not yet clear when it will set off for the conflict zone with a further 240 tons of food, the WCK said. 

Together with local partners, the organization operates 60 community kitchens in Gaza, which prepare meals for the Palestinian population.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war in October, the WSK says it has brought 1,500 lorry loads to the strip and provided 37 million meals. 

The Open Arms mission, which is using the sea route for the first time, is considered a pilot project. The European Union is also planning a sea corridor to improve supplies to the more than two million people in Gaza.

Irrespective of this, the United States is planning a maritime corridor to Gaza. The US military is to build a floating dock near the Gaza coast.