Palestinians: Aid boat en route from Libya to Gaza

Independent lawmaker Jamal Khoudari said the ship left the Libyan port of Zawara carrying food, medicine, blankets and powdered milk. He said it would arrive in Gaza early next week.

Libyan officials declined comment Wednesday.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said only that Israel has announced previously that it would make a decision about each instance of aid separately.

Meanwhile, Israel is allowing cooking gas into Gaza for the first time in weeks, with a shipment of 70 tons, a Palestinian fuel official said Wednesday. Mahmoud Khazundar said the shipment represents only a fraction of what Gaza needs.

Israel sealed its crossings with Gaza on Nov. 4. after clashes with Palestinian militants. Since then, it has opened the crossings only for vital humanitarian aid. The cooking gas shortage has affected many Gazans, forcing some bakeries to close and families to cook using diesel or wood.

Meanwhile, the United Nations and other aid agencies appealed to the international community Wednesday to send $462 million in emergency assistance to address what they called a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories.

Most of the money will be used for food and cash handouts, said Maxwell Gaylard, local head of the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. A total of 159 emergency programs are planned in areas such as health, education, food, water and sanitation.

The request for emergency funds in 2009 is the seventh annual request for such funds, besides hundreds of millions of dollars in normal operating budgets.