GAZA - The first aid ship, traveling through the Cyprus-Gaza humanitarian maritime corridor, reached the coast of the Palestinian enclave on Friday and began offloading its cargo, Palestinian sources said.

The 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid onboard the ship was received by workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK), who will facilitate its distribution to the local population grappling with severe food shortages, the sources told Xinhua.

"Our team in Gaza is offloading desperately needed food from our first maritime aid shipment under Operation Safeena", WCK said in a statement, adding a crane also arrived at the Gazan coast to expedite the transfer of aid from the ship to delivery trucks.

The vessel, manned by the Spanish aid organization Open Arms, left Cyprus on Tuesday.