LONDON: Although Israel has permitted dozens of aid trucks to enter the Gaza Strip in recent days, humanitarian agencies warn that not nearly enough assistance is reaching the embattled enclave.

There was a glimmer of hope on Thursday, however, when the first international relief vessel arrived off Gaza鈥檚 northern coast.

The Spanish-flagged Open Arms left Cyprus on March 12, towing some 200 tons of flour, protein and rice and a ready-to-use pontoon, which allowed it to offload its cargo in the absence of any formal port infrastructure.

The shipment 鈥� largely funded by the UAE 鈥� was organized by US charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), which said it had a further 500 tons of aid ready to dispatch.

In a statement, WCK founder Jose Andres and its chief executive Erin Gore, said: 鈥淥ur goal is to establish a maritime highway of boats and barges that are stocked with millions of meals continuously headed towards Gaza.鈥�

In a separate statement on X, Andres noted that WCK was also constructing its own jetty where vessels could land in the future.

With 200 tons equaling 12 truckloads, the Open Arms鈥� delivery represents just a fraction of the roughly 500 aid trucks that had been entering Gaza daily before the Israel-Hamas conflict began on Oct. 7.

According to Israeli authorities, 89 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were inspected and transferred to the Gaza Strip on March 13. On that same day, aid from 145 trucks was distributed inside Gaza, while a convoy of 21 trucks made its way to northern Gaza, where aid organizations have warned there is a high risk of famine.

Over the last three weeks, the Israelis say, more than 150 trucks have been transferred to the north, and four tankers of cooking gas designated for the operation of essential infrastructure in Gaza have also entered the enclave.

However, the number of trucks entering is still well short of the 300 that charities believe are needed daily to stave off the looming famine.

Unlike recent US airdrops, which have been criticized by some as being a dangerous and ineffective means of delivering aid, the prospective maritime corridor has received a warmer reception.

Julia Roknifard, an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham鈥檚 School of Politics, History, and International Relations, said that, unlike the airdrops, the Open Arms鈥� mission cannot be dismissed as political maneuvering.

鈥淭his push for the charity to deliver aid is coming from civil society as well, so it can鈥檛 be seen as a PR stunt alone,鈥� Roknifard told Arab News.

Importantly, she added, US backing for the mission will likely deter the Israel Defense Forces from risking a repeat of the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla incident in which IDF commandos tried to board the Mavi Marmara aid ship and killed nine activists in the process.

WCK had sought to allay Israeli government concerns ahead of its mission. Its communications director, Laura Lanuza, told National Public Radio in the US that the charity had to hash out a deal with the Israelis to ensure the IDF would not try to block the delivery of aid from Open Arms.

Even once an agreement was reached, Lanuza said it took the charity about three weeks to ensure the ship and its cargo complied with the agreed regulations and restrictions.

鈥淲e had a huge challenge in front of us trying to make this happen. We had to be cautious, and we had to follow all the protocols that we did in order to have a good end to this,鈥� Lanuza added, noting that each crate was individually scanned under Israeli supervision.

Commenting on joint EU-UAE-US plans to develop the maritime corridor, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Open Arms was the first vessel to have been authorized by the Israelis to deliver aid directly to Gaza in almost 20 years.

In a joint statement, the EU, UAE, and US said, 鈥淒elivery of aid to Gaza by sea will be complex. We鈥檒l continue to assess and adjust efforts to ensure we deliver aid as effectively as possible.鈥�

It added: 鈥淭his maritime corridor can 鈥� and must 鈥� be part of a sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial commodities into Gaza through all possible routes.鈥� The statement also called on the international community to 鈥渄o more.鈥�

Sharing Roknifard鈥檚 hopes for the maritime corridor is Yossi Mekelberg, associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House in London and a strident critic of Israel鈥檚 war on Gaza.

Mekelberg told Arab News that 鈥渙f course鈥� there was an element of PR in US plans to 鈥済o and build a floating dock,鈥� but he stressed that this did not necessarily nullify the benefits that could come from its construction.

鈥淓ssentially, what sort of change it can offer is dependent on a few factors 鈥� namely, how big it is and how much aid it can actually get into Gaza,鈥� he said. 鈥淩ight now, every little helps, on top of what is already getting in, for as long as those 500 truckloads of aid that are needed to keep Gaza running are not getting in.鈥�

Mekelberg added that provisions being parachuted in are just as valuable as those coming by land or sea.

However, he continued, if the proposed floating dock is to make a real difference, then time is of the essence. He cited estimates that the dock could take two months to build, despite warnings from aid agencies that some 576,000 people are already on the brink of famine.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, founder of Project Unified Assistance, which aims to establish a UN-operated humanitarian airport in Gaza, wrote on X that the temporary dock was a 鈥渕ammoth step鈥� that could have a 鈥渢ransformative impact if implemented effectively.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 also historic because it will be the first time in a contemporary context that Gaza will have a functioning seaport which can receive regular, large-scale cargo shipments,鈥� he said.

鈥淎fter the food airdrops, US involvement in establishing a maritime corridor will bolster Washington鈥檚 diplomatic posture and signal the Biden administration鈥檚 seriousness about ending the humanitarian catastrophe that Gaza鈥檚 civilian population is experiencing.鈥�

Support for the maritime corridor, though, has not been universal. Medecins Sans Frontieres slammed the plans as a 鈥済laring distraction,鈥� and urged the US to instead force Israel鈥檚 hand to allow more trucks to enter the enclave.

Avril Benoit, the organization鈥檚 executive director, said the US had to address the 鈥渞eal problem,鈥� namely what he described as 鈥淚srael鈥檚 indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege.鈥�

In a statement, Benoit added: 鈥淭he food, water, and medical supplies so desperately needed by people in Gaza are sitting just across the border.

鈥淚srael needs to facilitate rather than block the flow of supplies. This isn鈥檛 a logistics problem; it is a political problem. Rather than look to a workaround, the US should insist on immediate humanitarian access using roads and entry points that already exist.鈥�

Israel denies it is restricting the entry of aid and has instead shifted the blame to humanitarian organizations operating inside Gaza, claiming that hundreds of trucks filled with aid are sitting idle on the Palestinian side of the main crossing.

The UN says it cannot always reach the trucks at the crossing because, at times, it can be too dangerous.

So, short of increasing the number of trucks entering Gaza and guaranteeing the safe delivery of the aid they carry, many view the maritime option as the best alternative.

鈥淟ooking at the big picture for the US government, being a patron for such an act is, of course, better than nothing, but overall (it is) pathetic compared to the actual pressure that could be rendered on Israel to stop the attacks,鈥� said Roknifard.

Roknifard believes the US should use its leverage to 鈥渢wist Israel鈥檚 arm鈥� and force Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners to allow sufficient aid to arrive by road.

Such a move is unlikely, however, given the upcoming US presidential election, which Roknifard said presents a 鈥渕ajor roadblock鈥� to the necessary 鈥減olitical will.鈥�

Although this still seems 鈥渓ike a pretty lame excuse for not doing the real thing,鈥� Roknifard said the maritime corridor was at least better than dropping aid from the air.