Ships with a second round of aid for Gaza have departed Cyprus as hunger concerns soar
The vessels and a barge carried enough to prepare more than one million meals, ITV News' Aisha Zahid reports
A three-ship convoy left a port in Cyprus on Saturday with 400 tonnes of food and other supplies for Gaza as concerns about hunger in the territory soar.
The World Central Kitchen charity said the vessels and a barge carried enough to prepare more than one million meals from items such as rice, pasta, flour, legumes, canned vegetables and proteins.
Also on board were dates, traditionally eaten to break the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
It was not clear when the ships would reach Gaza. The first ship earlier this month delivered 200 tonnes of food, water and other aid.
The United Nations and partners have warned that famine could occur in devastated, largely isolated northern Gaza as early as this month.
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Humanitarian officials say deliveries by sea and air are not enough and that Israel must allow far more aid by road.
The top UN court has ordered Israel to open more land crossings and take other measures to address the crisis.
Just one week-long ceasefire has been achieved in the war that began after Hamas-led militants stormed across southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 others hostage.
On Saturday, some Israelis again rallied to show frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and urge him to resign.
Families of hostages vowed to take to the streets across Israel. “Give the negotiations team a wide mandate and tell them, ‘Don’t come home without a deal, bring back our loved ones,’" said Raz Ben Ami, wife of hostage Ohad Ben Ami.
Nearly six months of war has destroyed critical infrastructure in Gaza including hospitals, schools and homes as well as roads, sewage systems and the electrical grid.
Over 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced, the UN and international aid agencies say.
Gaza's Health Ministry says 32,705 Palestinians have been killed, with 82 bodies taken to hospitals in the past 24 hours.
The Health Ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll but has said the majority of those killed have been women and children.
Israel says over one-third of the dead are militants, though it has not provided evidence to support that, and it blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the group operates in residential areas.
Israel's military on Saturday acknowledged shooting dead two Palestinians and wounding a third on Gaza’s beach, responding to a video broadcast earlier this week by Al Jazeera that showed one man falling to the ground after walking in an open area and a bulldozer pushing two bodies into the garbage-strewn sand.
The military said troops opened fire after the men allegedly ignored warning shots.
Israel’s military said it continued to strike dozens of targets in Gaza, days after the United Nations Security Council issued its first demand for a ceasefire.
Aid also fell on Gaza.
The US military said during an airdrop on Friday it had released over 100,000 pounds of aid that day and almost a million pounds overall, part of a multi-country effort.
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