Aid ship leaves Cyprus for Gaza; Israel checking if Hamas No.2 is dead

A ship transporting almost 200 tons of food to Gaza left a port in Cyprus early on Tuesday (March 12) in a pilot project to open a new sea route for aid to a population on the brink of famine.

The charity ship Open Arms sailed out of Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing flour, rice and protein.

The 320-kilometer voyage across the eastern Mediterranean to Gaza with a heavy tow barge could take up to two days, Cypriot officials have said.

The mission, funded mostly by the United Arab Emirates, is organized by U.S.-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), while Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms supplied the ship.

WCK says it has a further 500 tons of aid in Cyprus ready for dispatch.

The charities intend to take aid directly to Gaza, which has been sealed off from the outside world since Israel began its offensive in response to an October 7 attack by Hamas militants.

With the lack of port infrastructure, WCK said it was building a landing jetty in Gaza with material from destroyed buildings and rubble. This is a separate initiative to a plan announced by U.S. President Joe Biden last week to build a temporary pier in Gaza to facilitate aid deliveries by sea.

The mission, if successful, would signify the first easing of an Israeli naval blockade imposed on Gaza in 2007 after Hamas took control of the Palestinian enclave.

The United Nations has warned of widespread famine among Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians.

Is Hamas deputy dead?

Israel is checking on Monday whether it killed Hamas's deputy military leader in an airstrike in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said. If confirmed, Marwan Issa will be the highest-ranking official from the Islamist militant movement killed by Israel in five months of war.

Issa, known as the 'Shadow Man' for his ability to stay out of sight, was one of three top Hamas leaders who planned the October 7 attack on Israel and is believed to have been directing Hamas's military operations since then.

Speaking at a briefing with reporters, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel had bombed the Al-Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday night following intelligence about the location of Issa, second-in-command of Hamas's military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.

EU demanding humanitarian pause

EU leaders will demand an "immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire" in Gaza and urge Israel not to launch a ground operation in Rafah, according to draft conclusions of a summit to take place next week.

"The European Council urges the Israeli government to refrain from a ground operation in Rafah, where well over a million Palestinians are currently seeking safety from the fighting and access to humanitarian assistance," says the draft text.

The text will require the approval of all the EU's 27 national leaders to be adopted at the summit on March 21 and 22.

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Ceasefire hopes fade

Hopes of a ceasefire for Ramadan were dashed on Monday when an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City killed 16 people and wounded several others, Palestinian health officials said.

Israel also killed two Palestinians in an airstrike on a house in the southern city of Khan Younis as residents were breaking the first day of the Ramadan fast, Gaza health officials said.

Lebanon's Hezbollah group said on Tuesday it had fired more than 100 Katyusha rockets at several Israeli military posts in response to Israeli shelling of the Bekaa region the previous night.

At least one civilian was killed and several others were injured after Israel launched four strikes on the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, according to two security sources and the Baalbek governor, Bashir Khader.

One of the strikes hit the southern entrance of Baalbek, the security sources said. The three other strikes hit near the city of Taraya, 20 kilometers west of Baalbek, they added.

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