Spanish Charity Open Arms Vows More Gaza Food Aid, Appeals to Others to Step Up

 Palestinians gather to receive free food as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger, during the holy month of Ramadan, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip March 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians gather to receive free food as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger, during the holy month of Ramadan, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip March 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Spanish Charity Open Arms Vows More Gaza Food Aid, Appeals to Others to Step Up

 Palestinians gather to receive free food as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger, during the holy month of Ramadan, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip March 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians gather to receive free food as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger, during the holy month of Ramadan, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip March 19, 2024. (Reuters)

The director of Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms that delivered 200 tons of food aid to Gaza this week said he is determined to keep the deliveries going despite the significant danger to his team from the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

He also urged other "more powerful, wealthy states and organizations" to do the same using a new maritime corridor from Cyprus to the stricken enclave.

Oscar Camps, who was onboard the salvage vessel that left Cyprus on March 12 for a 200-mile (320 kilometer) voyage across the eastern Mediterranean to Gaza, described the perilous sea conditions that complicated the delivery to a makeshift jetty, and the significant danger to delivery teams on land.

Camps said it took seven hours to move a barge roped to the ship to a jetty made from destroyed buildings and rubble for it to be unloaded in rough seas.

His team had been warned by Israel it could not guarantee their security, he said, and those unloading aid onto land were within "hundreds, tens, of meters" of bombardments.

"People are eating grass there and they are bombing as you disembark food," he told Reuters in Badalona, a city north of Barcelona on the Spanish coast. "The war doesn't stop, everything is rumbling, you're surrounded by smoke and dust, you see the tanks moving back and forth."

Camps said Israel's foreign ministry opened the maritime route from Cyprus to Gaza on Dec. 20. "The thing is that no one used it," he added.

Jose Andres, founder of the World Central Kitchen that supplied the food carried by Open Arms, suggested they attempt a delivery, Camps said.

On Tuesday, Andres confirmed in a social media post that the equivalent of 500,000 meals had been delivered to northern Gaza.

Now, they are determined to send larger shipments of up to 500 tons on a second, third and fourth boat, Camps said. "It is not easy, but it is not impossible either."

Open Arms is 90% funded by civil society donations, said Camps, a former lifeguard from Catalonia whose charity was started to save migrants at sea.

He called his current operation a "band aid" he hoped would spark more ambitious endeavors, appealing to wealthier nations and organizations to use the same sea route, and to Israel to order ceasefires when aid was being delivered.

A UN-backed report on Monday said famine was "imminent" in the northern Gaza Strip, where some 300,000 people are trapped by fighting that began after an Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas fighters prompted an Israeli invasion of Gaza.

Across the whole Gaza Strip, the number of people facing "catastrophic hunger" has risen to 1.1 million, half the population, it said.



Yemen PM: Int’l Support for Yemen Includes Security, Defense Sectors

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak during a previous meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak during a previous meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen (Saba News Agency)
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Yemen PM: Int’l Support for Yemen Includes Security, Defense Sectors

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak during a previous meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak during a previous meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen (Saba News Agency)

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said international support for Yemen will go beyond politics and economics to include security and defense, aiming to strengthen the government’s ability to secure the country and its waterways.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the kickoff of an international ministerial meeting in New York to mobilize support for the Yemeni government, Bin Mubarak said: “For the first time, Yemen will be an active partner, and the international community will listen to its voice in a way that reflects a clear shift in the partnership between the Yemeni government and its supporters.”
The Yemeni government’s new plan, set to be unveiled at the New York meeting, has received backing from the United Kingdom, represented by Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer.
The event is expected to feature the official launch of Britain’s Yemen-led support initiative, known as “TAFFY,” which brings together Yemeni, British, and international experts and technical advisers working directly in Yemen.
According to British sources, TAFFY will also support Yemen’s coast guard by providing new equipment, enhancing capabilities, and offering advanced training. Minister Falconer is also set to announce an increase in the UK’s humanitarian aid to Yemen.

Bin Mubarak said his government’s plan, to be presented in New York, aims to shift from limited aid to a sustainable economic strategy that supports vital sectors and boosts private-sector partnerships.
“This effort is coordinated with the international community, including the UK, and supported by the Arab Coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Bin Mubarak said, adding that it reflects backing for Yemeni state institutions under the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).
He noted that the visit focuses on political and economic issues and comes after recent Red Sea attacks, stressing the need for international support to help Yemen through this critical phase.
Bin Mubarak said international support is shifting toward backing his government’s economic plan, approved by the Cabinet and the PLC.
The plan aims to move from limited aid to a sustainable economic strategy, support key sectors, and strengthen partnerships with the private sector.
The Yemeni premier added that the New York meetings and international commitments will also focus on security and defense to help the government secure Yemen and its waterways.