A boat laden with food for Palestinians in the devastated Gaza Strip was "ready" to set sail from Cyprus, an NGO said, as Israel continued to launch deadly strikes on civilian areas and fighting raged between Israeli troops and Hamas ahead of Ramadan.
The sea route aims to counter aid access restrictions which Israel has imposed. More than five months into a war which has killed over 30,000 people and reduced districts and cities to rubble, many of Gaza's 2.4 million people are starving to death.
Hopes were fading fast for a pause in the fighting before Ramadan, which began on Sunday for many Muslims around the world.
US President Joe Biden said Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu's approach to the war was "hurting Israel more than helping Israel", during an interview with MSNBC broadcast Saturday.
Netanyahu "has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas," Biden said, but added that "he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken".
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of looming famine, particularly in north Gaza where no overland border crossings are open.
