A ship carrying aid to Gaza is expected to leave Cyprus this weekend, passing through the European Commission’s new naval corridor.

The Spanish ship OpenArms will deliver food and water to the region after a United Nations report said a quarter of the region’s population was on the verge of famine and children were starving to death.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday she wanted to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor as the Houthis continued to attack US ships.

Here’s everything you need to know about the ship, the naval corridor and a potential timeline for delivering aid to starving Palestinians.

What is the significance of this rescue ship?

Airdropping aid and providing resources to Gaza’s hungry people has become difficult. There were reports on Friday that five people died as a result of an aid airdrop because parachutes did not deploy properly.

The ship, which belongs to Spanish charity Open Arms, will airdrop aid and resources to hungry people in Gaza.

However, leaders of charity Refugees International said the ship would not be able to deliver enough aid.

“It doesn’t sound like it’s on the scale needed to reverse Gaza’s current trajectory into famine,” said Jeremy Konyndyk.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned last week that at least 576,000 people in Gaza, a quarter of the enclave’s population, are one step away from famine.

Although some convoys have been allowed to cross the border into the enclave, the World Food Program said it had suspended the delivery of “life-saving” food to northern Gaza due to “the complete chaos and violence caused by the breakdown of civil order”.

Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, welcomed the maritime corridor plan but urged Israel to open land crossings.

“We welcome this. At the same time, I have to repeat it – air and sea are not a substitute for land, no one is saying that,” she said.

Will maritime corridors be open and protected?

Houthi armed attacks continue to cause chaos in the Red Sea, with U.S. Central Command reporting on Friday that the U.S. Navy shot down 15 Houthi armed aircraft targeting commercial ships.

Ms von der Leyen said Gaza “is facing a humanitarian disaster” and proposed a humanitarian sea corridor that would enable direct aid to hungry people.

Ms von der Leyen, who launched a “pilot operation” on Friday with the support of the United Arab Emirates, said she hoped the corridor would be fully operational by Sunday.

However, the European Commission, Cyprus, the United States, Britain and the United Arab Emirates said in a joint statement that the operation would be “complex” and that Israel would be under pressure to open routes to deliver aid on the ground.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “We continue to urge Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza as the fastest way to get aid to those in need.”

How important is the U.S. plan to build a military port?

President Joe Biden said a port would be built to help the family aid ships, as it was unclear how the Open Arms would dock because there is no port in the area.

On Thursday, Biden proposed a plan for the military to build a dock to move supplies from ships to the ground.

The White House said the program would be led by the U.S. military but would not involve “on-the-ground deployment.”

The U.S. military said on Friday that the port could take up to 60 days to deliver and require 1,000 people to build it, adding that it hoped to deliver 2 million meals a day to Gaza and that the terminal would bring ‘A huge change’ in the amount of food, water and medicine arriving in Gaza.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) told me planning is ongoing and suggested outside contractors could be recruited as part of the mission.

“The possibility of wearing boots on the ground has been ruled out,” the spokesman said. “The Department of Defense is actively reviewing maritime corridor options, including commercial and contractual options, for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, in coordination with U.S. interagency and international partners.”

The spokesman declined to elaborate on what role a private partner could play.