Save them from starvation

THE first aid ship packed with 200 tons of food arrived off Gaza City yesterday, as hundreds of thousands face starvation.

- Robert Kellaway

Volunteers began unloading 500,000 meals from the Spanish charity-run ship Open Arms on to smaller boats.

The vital food supplies were then ferried to the shore in the besieged Palestinian region.

Non-profit group World Central Kitchen, which is leading the initiative, will distribute the meals to desperate families.

Surveys British troops are helping to build a pier on the Mediterranean coast to help deliver aid directly into Gaza.

The decision came after Defence Secretary Grant Shapps ruled out dropping aid from RAF planes over fears the packages could kill people on the ground.

Five people died last week when a parachute failed to open and the aid cargo fell on them.

A team of British troops, including Royal Marines, are now helping the United States with plans to create a pier within 60 days.