Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of the Syrian president, will stand trial in Switzerland for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that decades ago earned him the nickname "The Butcher of Hama".

The office of Switzerland's Attorney General (OAG) said it was charging the former Syrian vice president and former Syrian army officer with a long list of crimes committed in February 1982, during a notorious clash between the Syrian military and Islamist opposition in the town of Hama in western Syria.

Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon killed two people Tuesday, a security source said, in escalating tit-for-tat fire with the powerful Hezbollah group that has raised fears of spiralling violence.

Since the Gaza war erupted in October, Hamas ally Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily fire across their shared border, including several recent Israeli strikes on Hezbollah further north.

A Lebanese security source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said two people were killed and 12 others wounded in the latest strikes.

A Spanish charity ship taking 200 tonnes of humanitarian food aid to war-ravaged Gaza set sail from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Tuesday, aiming to pioneer a "maritime corridor".

A second vessel was being readied to soon make the same journey to help besieged Palestinians, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told state radio.

The Spanish non-government group Open Arms told AFP that its ship, with a barge in tow, started the almost 400 kilometre (250 mile) voyage from the port of Larnaca around 0650 GMT.

A Spanish charity boat taking food to Gaza left Cyprus on Tuesday in hopes of opening a maritime corridor to carry sorely needed aid to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

In a sign of worsening humanitarian conditions more than five months into the war, the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said "the death toll from malnutrition and dehydration rose to 27", most of them children.

The first day of Ramadan came and went in Gaza, with residents marking a joyless iftar against a backdrop of famine, disease and displacement as the war in the besieged territory ground on more than five months after it began.

As the Muslim world welcomed the start of the holy month on Monday, Gazans faced continued Israeli bombardments and a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

A US delegation on religious freedom said Monday it cut short its visit to Saudi Arabia after one of its members was asked to remove his Jewish head covering, or kippah.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said its delegation was near Riyadh visiting Diriyah, a historic town that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, when the commission's chair, the Orthodox Rabbi Abraham Cooper, "refused their requests that he remove his religious head covering."

Excitement is running high among fans of Tehran's two football giants before Wednesday's derby between Persepolis and Esteghlal whose long-running rivalry has ignited passions in sports and politics for decades.

The Azadi stadium, which is home to both teams, is one of the largest in the world, and will see its seats packed for the 103rd Tehran Derby.

"It's the most important match. There's a crazy atmosphere, incredible to experience," Kevin Yamga, the only Frenchman playing in Iran, told AFP.

Dozens of Gazans offered prayers on Monday, the first day of Ramadan, in the middle of the ruins of a mosque hit by an Israeli air strike just days ago.

Standing in rows before a prayer leader with their hands folded, the Palestinian men were entering a fasting month unlike any they had experienced before.

Many of those not attending prayers were out in the streets looking for whatever food they could find for their families living in makeshift camps across the war-ravaged territory.

The first day of Ramadan on Monday arrived like others for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza: stalked by famine and disease, shivering in tents and threatened by bombs more than five months into fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.

As the Muslim world welcomed the holy month and its customary daytime fast, many Gazans faced bombardment that saw residents once more search through the rubble of destroyed homes for survivors and bodies.

Dozens of Muslim worshippers gathered in New York's Times Square Sunday to mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan, with some displaying Palestinian flags in solidarity with people in Gaza.

They performed Taraweeh, special Ramadan night prayers, against the backdrop of the bright LED advertising billboards that illuminate the Manhattan landmark.