Ship with urgent aid heading to Gaza

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — A Spanish aid boat was en route to Gaza on Wednesday, opening a new maritime corridor intended to allow deliveries of desperately needed food to the Palestinian territory ravaged by months of conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The food on the aid ship was collected by the charity World Central Kitchen and is being transported by the Spanish aid group Open Arms. The ship departed from the eastern Mediterranean island country of Cyprus, towing 200 metric tons of relief goods, and is expected to arrive in Gaza in two to three days.

In a sign of worsening humanitarian conditions, the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry said 27 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration, most of them children.