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Israel is not just killing Gaza children with bombs, some are dying of hunger too

It's not just Israeli bombs that have killed children in war-ravaged Gaza — now some are dying of hunger too.

Officials have long warned over the risk of famine in the Palestinian territory that's been under Israel's bombardment, offensives and siege for the past five months.

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Top EU official says ship preparing to leave for Gaza with humanitarian aid

A ship was preparing Friday to leave Cyprus and head for Gaza with humanitarian aid, the European Commission president said, as international donors launch a sea corridor to supply the besieged territory facing widespread hunger and shortages of essential supplies after five months of war.

The vessel, belonging to Spain's Open Arms, will make a pilot voyage to test the corridor, Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Cyprus, where she's inspecting preparations for the sea corridor. The ship has been waiting at Cyprus's port of Larnaca for permission to deliver food aid from World Central Kitchen, a U.S. charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.

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US envoy to Israel says Gaza talks not 'broken down', gaps narrowing

Talks for a truce in Gaza have not yet "broken down," the U.S. ambassador to Israel said, after a Hamas delegation voiced dissatisfaction with Israel's positions and left Cairo.

"The differences are being narrowed. It's not yet an agreement. Everyone's looking towards Ramadan, which is coming close. I can't tell you that it will be successful, but it is not yet the case that it is broken down," Jack Lew said at a conference in Tel Aviv.

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Biden says temporary pier in Gaza will boost aid deliveries as hopes for truce dim

U.S. President Joe Biden Biden said overnight that the U.S. military will help establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza as a way to boost the delivery of aid for Palestinians trapped in the besieged territory by the Israel-Hamas war.

He unveiled the plan during his State of the Union address to Congress. The move comes after Biden last week approved the U.S. military airdropping aid into Gaza.

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First fatal attack on shipping by Houthi rebels escalates risk for reeling Mideast

The first fatal attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping threatens to further sever a crucial maritime artery for global trade and carries with it risks beyond those just at sea.

Already, the White House is warning that there will be a response to Wednesday's attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden. What that will look like remains unclear, but the U.S. has already launched round after round of airstrikes targeting the Houthis, a rebel group that has held Yemen's capital since 2014, and more are likely on the way.

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Saudi crown prince transfers another 8% of Aramco shares to sovereign wealth fund

Saudi Arabia's crown prince transferred another 8% of shares in the kingdom's oil giant Saudi Aramco to the country's prominent sovereign wealth fund on Thursday. The shares are worth some $160 billion.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's decision comes as the kingdom is trying to build a series of megaprojects and invest in sports and other fields aggressively abroad to wean the country off of relying solely on oil.

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Hamas says Cairo talks to resume next week, truce before Ramadan unlikely

Hamas said Thursday that its delegation has left Cairo and that talks on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release will resume next week, making it extremely unlikely that mediators will broker a deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Egyptian officials had earlier said the negotiations reached an impasse over Hamas' demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war. But they did not rule out a deal before Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Sunday and has emerged as an informal deadline.

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Tensions in Israel war cabinet as Gaza conflict rages

Israel's war cabinet, seen as a symbol of national unity in the war against Hamas, has been shaken by political rivalry between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Benny Gantz, analysts say.

A former military chief and ex-defense minister, Gantz visited Washington Monday before heading to London on Wednesday for high-level talks in a trip which was not authorized by Netanyahu.

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Pressure grows on Israel to open more aid routes into Gaza as hunger worsens

Efforts to get desperately needed humanitarian aid to war-wracked northern Gaza have gained momentum with the European Union increasing pressure for the creation of a sea route from Cyprus to Gaza and British Foreign Minister David Cameron saying that Israel's allies were losing patience.

While aid groups say all of Gaza is mired in a humanitarian crisis, the situation in the largely isolated north stands out. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living there have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The U.N. says that one in six children younger than 2 in the north suffers from acute malnutrition.

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3 crew members killed in Yemen Houthis' first fatal assault on shipping

A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday killed three of its crew members and forced survivors to abandon the vessel, the U.S. military said. It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence further escalates the conflict on a crucial maritime route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping. The Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the U.S. began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn't halted their attacks.

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