Gaza media office: Cyprus aid ship equivalent to 'two truckloads'

Salama Maarouf, the head of the Gaza government's media office, said in a statement that aid shipments from Cyprus prove that efforts to support Palestinians in Gaza are "weak, and that they remain below the minimum required in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe that is afflicting our people."

The media office focused particularly on the plight of Palestinians in the northern half of the Gaza Strip, where it said that more than 700,000 people are "suffering from a clear war of starvation".

"According to what was announced, the ship’s load does not exceed the load of one or two trucks, and it will take days [to arrive]," the statement read. "It is not yet known where it will dock and how it will reach the Gaza coast, and in addition to that it will be subject to inspection by the occupation army."

Maarouf called for aid convoys to be brought in by land through the known crossings of Rafah or Kerem Shalom, and proposed the activation of the Mintar/Karni, Shujaiya and Beit Hanoun crossings.

"The international community must act urgently, before it is too late, to save those who are dying of hunger," the statement said.