CNN —The first aid ship carrying much-needed food has reached the shoreline of central Gaza as part of new efforts to ease a humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave. Workers have been unpacking the 200 tons of food aid on smaller boats off the shore of the Gaza City neighborhood of Sheikh Ajleen, according to a journalist on the scene who works for CNN. The initiative is led by the non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK) and the ship is run the Spanish charity Open Arms. The ship is carrying 500,000 meals that WCK will distribute in war-ravaged Gaza – where hundreds of thousands of the enclave’s 2 million people are on the brink of famine. This is the first batch of aid Gaza has received by sea since the war began, and is part of an international effort to step up relief to the besieged enclave.

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Persons: Sheikh Ajleen, Khadr Al Organizations: CNN, Workers, Spanish, Gaza, United Nations Locations: Gaza, Gaza City, Sheikh, States, Israel, Wafa