With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza escalating day by day, the international community is ramping up efforts to get much needed aid across the border.
A maritime aid corridor is expected to be launched tomorrow, with the ship Open Arms ready to start shuttling between Cyprus and Gaza to deliver aid supplies.
It is a relatively small ship, and is expected to be able to carry around 10 truck-loads of aid a visit, but is also expected to tow a barge containing up to 200 tonnes of rice.
Although this aid will be invaluable, it only represents around 3% of Gaza’s daily requirements. Bulk aid delivery by sea will not be viable until the US build their pontoon facility offshore, but that will take weeks rather than days to reach initial operating capability.
Meanwhile, the international community is ramping up the supply of aid via airdrops.
Airdrops can be indiscriminate and dangerous when aid is delivered into confined spaces with high population densities, and the Palestinian authorities have said that five Palestinians have been killed by pallets falling from the skies – something the US denies.
When the Open Arms commences its deliveries of aid, one of the key challenges will be security.
Recent aid deliveries by land and air have been accompanied by chaotic scenes on the ground as the local population fights to secure access to limited supplies.
Once the aid arrives in port, how will it be moved ashore, and who will provide the security environment required to enable safe and effective distribution?
Will the IDF provide security for the crew of the ship, or will that fall to the Palestinian authorities?
There is also the issue of time.
Benjamin Netanyahu announced three weeks ago that unless the hostages were released by 10 March that the ground offensive into Rafah would commence.
He also claimed that he had ordered the IDF to develop a plan to clear the 1.3 million refugees from the area to avoid what many aid agencies believed would be a “bloodbath”.
To date, there is no evidence that any of the refugees have been moved from Rafah.
However, the interesting dynamic has been the evident shift in international support for Israel.
Immediately after the Hamas attacks on Israel the West supported Israel’s right to self-defence, but over the past few days the international community has started bypassing Israel’s control over aid deliveries to Gaza by conducting airdrops and developing longer-term plans to supply aid to the beleaguered region.
The international community has concluded that with the total Palestinian casualties totalling more than 100,000, and a spiralling humanitarian crisis, it can no longer remain a concerned observer.
