Cameron warns of 'real' Gaza famine threat

LONDON, Apr 07 (AFP/BBC): British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Sunday warned the "prospect of famine is real" in Gaza, as a Royal Navy ship headed to the Mediterranean to help set up a maritime aid corridor.

Cameron said Britain was working with the United States, Cyprus and others to set up a "new temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to get aid in as quickly and securely as possible".

"We need to continue to explore all options, including by sea and air, to ease the desperate plight of some of the world's most vulnerable people," he said.

Cyprus has vowed to continue with the humanitarian corridor despite the killing in an Israeli strike of seven aid workers unloading aid in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

The seven workers, including three Britons, from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity died Monday as they left a warehouse having unloaded aid delivered by ship.

The UK also announced o9.7m for aid, equipment and expertise to help set up the maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza.

A first vessel, organised by the Spanish charity Open Arms and WCK, successfully delivered its cargo to Gaza on March 15 using the corridor. The second left Cyprus on March 30.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said Monday that preparations were underway for a third voyage and Cyprus was coordinating with the United States, which has sent military engineers to build a port in Gaza to facilitate aid deliveries.

With the situation in Gaza increasingly dire, donors have pursued alternatives including airdrops and maritime shipments.

But aid groups have been critical saying airdrops and maritime deliveries cannot make up for the lack of aid being delivered overland, which is at a fraction of its pre-war levels according to the UN.

Tens of thousands of Israelis

rally for Gaza hostage deal

Tens of thousands of Israelis have rallied against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding a Gaza hostage deal. The rallies in Tel Aviv and other cities came after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the body of hostage Elad Katzir.

Protesters chanted "elections now", and "Elad, we're sorry", local media reported. Later, police forcibly dispersed the Tel Aviv crowd.

Anti-government protesters were joined by families of hostages held in Gaza. Demonstrators expressed their frustration with the government's inability to free the around 130 hostages who remain in Gaza, held by Hamas and its allies.

Earlier on Saturday the IDF rec#overed the body of Elad Katzir, who was seized and taken to Gaza during the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October. He appeared alive in a hostage video released in January.

"Elad Katzir managed to survive three months in captivity. He should have been with us today. He could have been with us today," protester Noam Peri told a BBC reporter.

Organisers said the protest in Tel Aviv had drawn 100,000 people, while other counts put attendance at around 45,000. The demonstrations were the latest of a series of huge anti-government protests demanding that Prime Minister Netanyahu step down, amid fury that he has failed to free the remaining hostages.

Israel pulls troops out

of southern Gaza

Israel on Sunday pulled all its troops out of southern Gaza, including from the city of Khan Yunis, the military and an army official said, after months of fierce fighting with Hamas militants left the area devastated.

"Today, Sunday April 7th, the IDF's 98th commando division has concluded its mission in Khan Yunis. The division left the Gaza Strip in order to recuperate and prepare for future operations," the army said in a statement to AFP.