PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: A boat carrying desperately needed aid for the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of famine, prepared to sail from Cyprus as deadly fighting raged on Saturday between Israeli troops and Hamas militants ahead of Ramadan.

The sea route aims to counter access restrictions, which humanitarians and Western governments have blamed on Israel, more than five months into the war, which has left Gaza's 2.4 million people struggling to survive, particularly in the Palestinian territory's north.