Second shipment with almost 400 tons of food for Gaza leaves Cyprus port

LARNACA, Cyprus -A second shipment of aid carrying almost 400 tons of food for Gaza left Cyprus's Larnaca port on Saturday, a Reuters witness said.

The aid will be taken to Gaza by a cargo ship and a platform towed by a salvage vessel.

It will be the second dispatch of aid via Cyprus, where Cypriot authorities have established, in cooperation with Israel, a maritime corridor to facilitate pre-screened cargoes arriving directly in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

U.S.-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) arranged the mission with Spain's Open Arms charity, with financing mainly from the UAE and support from Cypriot authorities.

On its first mission earlier in March, it built a makeshift jetty from rubble to enable offloading almost 200 tons of food in the enclave, which does not have any port facilities. Saturday's dispatch includes two forklifts and a crane to assist with future marine deliveries.

Separately, the United States plans to construct a floating pier off Gaza to receive aid. The target date for completion is May 1, but it could be ready by around April 15, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said late on Friday.

The United Nations has warned that famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip, where 300,000 people are trapped by fighting. Across the whole of the enclave more than half its population of 2.3 million people could face famine by July.

(Reporting by Yiannis Kourtoglou, writing by Michele Kambas, editing by Giles Elgood)