Palestinians killed during raid in occupied West Bank

Violent clashes overnight left multiple Palestinians dead in the West Bank on Wednesday, with another two Palestinians killed during confrontations with Israeli forces overnight, bringing the overall toll to six over the past 24 hours.

Israeli police said a Palestinian stabbed and wounded two people at a checkpoint near Jerusalem before being shot Wednesday.

At least 427 Palestinians have been killed there, mostly during confrontations with Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israeli-Palestinian tensions often soar during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began Sunday, over access to a major holy site in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said six aid trucks entered Gaza through the north late Tuesday as international pressure mounts for more humanitarian aid to Gaza.

A quarter of Gaza’s population is starving, according to the United Nations.

Aid effort update

Cyprus’ foreign minister said a U.S. initiative to build a pier off Gaza for large-scale aid deliveries to the territory by sea will eventually be folded into the Cyprus-Gaza maritime corridor that’s currently running.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Wednesday although the two initiatives are now separate, all aid reaching Gaza by sea will eventually have as its single departure point the Cypriot port of Larnaca.

That’s where all the aid will be collected and loaded onto ships after undergoing thorough security screening by Cypriot customs officials, with personnel from Israel and other countries acting as observers to ensure the integrity of the process.

Having such a single departure point would address the Israelis’ security concerns regarding inspections of all cargo to ensure that nothing is loaded on ships that Hamas could use against Israeli troops, Kombos said.

Ships making the trip from Cyprus to Gaza won’t be escorted by military vessels for security reasons because monitoring can be done through other means, the foreign minister said.

Kombos said aid that will reach Gaza by ship in the coming weeks will use the U.S. charity World Central Kitchen’s distribution network in the Palestinian territory. But Cypriot authorities and other partners are looking to expand those networks on the ground in Gaza to include United Nations agencies like the World Food Program.

A second vessel being loaded with aid for Gaza was docked at Larnaca port and was preparing to depart, Cyprus’ foreign minister said Wednesday.