Aid boat readied as Gaza fighting rages before Ramadan

Charity hopes to launch first shipment of supplies along proposed maritime corridor

GAZA STRIP - A boat carrying aid for war-ravaged Gaza, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of famine, prepared to sail from Cyprus as deadly fighting raged on March 9 between Israeli troops and Hamas militants ahead of Ramadan.

The sea route aims to counter access restrictions, which humanitarians and Western governments have blamed on Israel, more than five months into the war that has left Gaza's 2.3 million people struggling to survive, particularly in the Palestinian territory's north.

A US charity, World Central Kitchen, said it was loading aid onto a boat in Cyprus - the closest European Union country to Gaza - in the first shipment along a maritime corridor the European Commission hopes will open on March 10.

"Our tugboat stands prepared to embark at a moment's notice," said Open Arms, a non-governmental organisation partner in the effort.

With ground access limited, countries have also turned to airdrops of aid. Canada became the latest to say it would join such missions, but a parachute malfunction turned one delivery deadly on March 8. It was not clear which country had undertaken the lethal airdrop.

The Health Ministry in Hamasrun Gaza said three more children died of malnutrition and dehydration, with the total of such deaths now 23.

Another 82 people were killed in strikes over the previous day, the ministry said, bringing the number of fatalities in Israel's bombardment and ground offensive of Gaza to 30,960, mostly women and children.

Israel's retaliatory campaign to destroy Hamas began after the movement's Oct 7 attack on Israel resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to Israeli official figures.