We start with the war in Gaza. And a ship carrying humanitarian aid is expected to set sail to the territory from Cyprus this weekend. It's part of a planned maritime aid corridor. It's a joint operation between the EU, US, UK, and United Arab Emirates, aiming to bring supplies from Cyprus to the Coast of Gaza. The UN says a quarter of Gaza's population is on the brink of famine, and children there are starving to death. Organizers hope the plan could allow additional aid to be brought in, but they continue to press Israel to allow more deliveries by road. These are the latest pictures from Larnaka in Cyprus. As you can see, aid is being loaded onto a ship which is due to depart in a couple of hours. The European Union's ambassador to the US told the BBC a little more about the plans for the maritime corridor.

Hopefully, the pilot, the first try to get aid already happened over the weekend, but it takes some time to make sure that it's not only once in a time, but it's a sustainable way to provide aid for the people in Gaza and Palestine to make sure that we alleviate, ease the situation in the region. Cyprus for a long time have been a part on the way to the region. So hopefully this could really help because five of the EU member states is on board and we see it as the possibility to increase to ease the aid and to have a possibility to provide it as soon as possible.

Here's Pentagon's spokesperson, Patrick Ryder.

Importantly, there will be no US forces on the ground in Gaza. Finally, in terms of timing, we're working to set this up as quickly as possible, but we expect that it will take several weeks to plan and execute. Once operational, the actual amount of aid delivered will depend on many variables and will likely scale over time. However, we expect that deliveries via JLOTs could provide than 2 million meals to the citizens of Gaza per day.

For the latest on the maritime aid corridors, I spoke to our Middle East correspondent, Wira Davis in Jerusalem.

Of course, there are several possible routes to get aid into Gaza, where there is a huge humanitarian crisis. Children dying from malnutrition, a real risk of famine, according to the UN. 300,000 people, particularly in northern Gaza, without any real adequate food or aid. Some trucks are getting in, but clearly not enough. So the EU, the UAE, and other organizations have come up with this plan for a maritime corridor. And this would entail a ship leaving Cyprus today, towing a barge. And on that barge would be around, we understand, 200 tons of aid. Problem is that when it gets to Gaza, there's no port in Gaza, there's a war going on, there's no obvious way to safely remove and then distribute all of that aid. And it's a real logistical nightmare. We've been asking questions, but I haven't really had any satisfactory answers. This is a test run this weekend. If it works, and it's a big if, I think, then that will become a regular route for aid from Cyprus towards Gaza. Of course, we then got a separate Joe Biden plan to build a temporary port facility off the Coast of Gaza. That would be built by American Army engineers, but critically no military boots on the ground.

But that's two months away at the very least. All the while, the aid agencies are saying, Look, the best way to get aid into Gaza is through Israel. Let's try and persuade the Israelis. And I know Lord Cameron, the UK Foreign Secretary, has been talking to the Israelis about opening up the port of Ashtod. That is just to the north of Gaza. It's a huge container port. It's only half an hour, 40 minutes away from the Erez crossing into Gaza. And that would be the aid agencies, in particular, say, a much more practical way of getting badly needed aid into Gaza. Meanwhile, while that's not happening, while there's a disagreement between the Israelis and various agencies, and there is no ceasefire, this maritime corridor is the favored method of hopefully getting aid into Gaza, although it probably won't be enough.

What are the Israelis saying about their military campaign and the latest from there?

It's interesting. This ceasefire that everybody had hoped would be in place this weekend simply hasn't happened. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reiterated his priority a couple of days ago at a military graduation ceremony. He said that Israel will continue its military operation in Southern Gaza. Not to do that would be to admit defeat despite the international pressure. Mr. Netanyahu acknowledged the level of pressure he's coming under to agree to a ceasefire, to allow more aid in. But I think reading between the lines for Mr. Netanyahu, his priority is this, as he would see it, this unfinished military business in Gaza.

And what more of any hopes of ceasefire talks with Ramadan approaching now just hours away?

Yeah, that's a really good question. I think they haven't given up on that. Hamas have left Cairo now, but the Qatari and Egyptian mediators are ready to talk to Hamas and the Israelis indirectly, hopefully get them back around the table and agree to a 40-day ceasefire. That's this Paris framework. If that doesn't happen, the war continues. If it happens, and there are significant obstacles to allowing it to happen, but if it happens, then, of course, one of the big beneficiaries would be more aid officially to get into Gaza through roads, through Israel, which is a much more effective and efficient way of getting aid to the people who need it.