Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced on March 10 that Canada will join an international initiative to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea. Canada’s announcement comes at a time when millions of Palestinians are going hungry.
In a statement, Joly said Canada will join the international coalition that has taken the initiative to increase relief aid to Gaza through the Humanitarian Sea Corridor from Cyprus. Not much has been reported in this regard.
The announcement came after a meeting between Jolie and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed. In an announcement on social media X, Jolie said they discussed the need to increase the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza by all possible means. I pledge that Canada will join the coalition to deliver aid through the Humanitarian Sea Corridor.
On March 8, the United Arab Emirates announced its intention to jointly open a maritime corridor with the European Commission, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Cyprus, the United Kingdom and the United States. Five months into the war, millions of Palestinians are living with hunger. And this urge to increase relief aid came to the fore during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The announcement to open the sea corridor, along with airdrops by the US, Jordan and others, echoes the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It is also a new initiative to bypass Israel’s control over the delivery of relief aid by land.
But the relief officials say that the shortfall of not sending relief by land will not be met by air and sea. The number of aid trucks entering Gaza each day is much lower than before the war. Before the war, 500 trucks entered Gaza daily by land.
