Gaza truce efforts revived as first aid ship unloaded

Efforts towards a truce in the Israel-Hamas war appeared to rekindle on Saturday after a new proposal from the Palestinian militant group which also called for more aid into Gaza, where the first food shipment by sea reached shore.

Israel said it would send a delegation to Qatar for a new round of talks on a possible deal. It also advanced plans for a military operation in Rafah, where most of Gaza's population has sought refuge from more than five months of war and deprivation.

The U.S. charity World Central Kitchen said its team had finished unloading almost 200 tonnes of food, the first shipment to arrive on a new maritime aid corridor from Cyprus.

"All cargo was offloaded and is being readied for distribution in Gaza," it said in a statement.

The Cypriot government said that a second aid ship, the Jennifer, would depart soon, although World Central Kitchen later said rough weather made it hard to predict when the vessel, carrying 240 tonnes of food, would set sail.

"Maritime weather reports show bad weather from Sunday until end of next week — so exact timing of sailing for either boat to return to Gaza is not available at this time," the charity said in a statement.

The United Nations has reported particular difficulty in accessing north Gaza to distribute food and other aid.

Residents say they have resorted to eating wild plants and animal fodder, and some have stormed the few aid trucks that have made it through.

"Doctors are reporting that they no longer see normal-sized babies," Dominic Allen, of the United Nations Population Fund, said after visiting the area.

 'God help us'

With the situation increasingly dire, donors have turned to deliveries by air or sea.