NICOSIA: A ship loaded with 200 tons of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip left the port of Larnaca in southern Cyprus on Tuesday, a spokesman for the nongovernmental organization operating the vessel said.

'They have left,' Laura Lanuza from the Spanish charity group Open Arms told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The tow boat and barge embarked on the journey at about 8:50 a.m. (local time), the first such shipment along a maritime corridor from Cyprus aimed at carrying aid to desperate Palestinian civilians in Gaza.