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

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 Isreali offensive and deprivation.

The US 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.

 Displaced Palestinians queue to receive food donated by a charity organisation ahead of iftar during Ramazan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2024. — AFP
Displaced Palestinians queue to receive food donated by a charity organisation ahead of iftar during Ramazan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2024. — AFP

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