Four days after the death of seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen in Israeli strikes, the Spanish non-governmental organization Open Arms announced in turn that it would suspend its activities in the Gaza Strip.
“The mission in the humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip with World Central Kitchen is suspended following the devastating attack suffered by the convoy”says Open Arms, in a press release which describes the attack “an incomprehensible act of violence”.
“We demand answers and accountability for this unacceptable attack”declares the director of Open Arms, Oscar Camps, quoted in the press release.
Open Arms chartered with the American NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) the first humanitarian aid boat to arrive in Gaza from Cyprus via a dedicated maritime corridor. WCK staff were unloading aid from a second boat, also from Cyprus, when their convoy was attacked by the Israeli army on Monday in the Gaza Strip. This second Open Arms ship returned to the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Wednesday.
Alert from NGOs on the virtual impossibility of working in Gaza
Open Arms and WCK worked together to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor through which they transported 200 tons of food from Cyprus to the coast of Gaza on an initial voyage in mid-March.
After the Israeli strikes, WCK, which provided daily meals to Gaza, announced that it was suspending its operations via this maritime corridor.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted an Israeli strike “unintentional” after the death of the seven humanitarian workers.
International NGOs warned again on Thursday of their near impossibility of working in the Gaza Strip, ravaged by a war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.