TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AFP) — An aid ship bound for Israeli-blockaded Gaza and loaded with medical supplies, food, clothing and toys left the port city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon early on Tuesday.
On board the "Brotherhood Ship" were eight people including the former Greek-Catholic archbishop of Jerusalem, Monsignor Hilarion Capucci, who left Jerusalem in the 1970s after serving time in an Israeli jail for membership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
"We have decided to go ahead with this mission in solidarity with the people of Gaza so that they don't feel cut off from the world," organiser Hani Suleiman told AFP before the boat left Tripoli at around midnight.
"There is no reason whatsoever for Israel to prevent us from reaching Gaza," he added. "We have no rockets, no weapons, just aid for the people of Gaza."
The Togolese-registered Tali was headed first to Cyprus where authorities were to search the vessel to ensure transparency, before continuing on to the Gaza Strip.
Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible
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