War rages on as Ramadan starts

HUMAN CRISIS DEEPENS IN GAZA

Diplomatic push in next 10 days to achieve truce in first half of holy month.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan began yesterday in Gaza with no truce in sight, as fighting rages between Israeli forces and Hamas militants and a dire humanitarian crisis grips the besieged Palestinian territory.

A Spanish charity ship with food aid prepared to sail from Cyprus to the coastal Gaza Strip, where the UN has repeatedly warned of famine.

Aid groups say only a fraction of the supplies required to meet basic humanitarian needs have been allowed into Gaza since October, when Israel placed it under near-total siege. About 370km from Cyprus across the Mediterranean Sea, Mohammed Harara stood on the shores of Gaza, hoping for the aid to arrive.

“I’ve been waiting since this morning, because tomorrow is the start of Ramadan and the situation is very tragic,” he said.

The nongovernmental group, Open Arms, said its boat would tow a barge with 200 tons of food, which its partner, the US charity, World Central Kitchen, would then unload on Gaza’s shores.

It was expected to depart “within the coming hours”, Cypriot government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis told Cyprus News Agency.

Jordanian, US, French, Belgian and Egyptian planes parachuted aid into northern Gaza on Sunday, but the United Nations’ aid coordinator for the area has said boosting supply by land is the best way to get assistance to the territory’s 2.4 million people.

Some of the air-dropped food packages smashed open on impact, leaving residents picking through the dirt to salvage what they could, AFP TV images showed.

Weeks of talks involving US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have aimed for a six-week truce and the release of many of the hostages that militants are still holding.

In return, Israel would free Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.

The aim had been to halt the fighting by Ramadan.

Both sides have blamed each other for failing to reach a truce deal, after Israel demanded a full list of surviving hostages and Hamas called for Israel to pull out all its troops from Gaza.

A source with knowledge of the truce talks said “there will be a diplomatic push, especially in the next 10 days” to secure a deal in the first half of Ramadan. –