US resumes aid deliveries to Gaza from temporary pier: CENTCOM
This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies shows the US-built Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza on May 26, 2024
Washington – The United States has resumed aid deliveries to Gaza from a temporary pier, the country’s military said Saturday, after the structure suffered storm damage and underwent repairs in a nearby port.
“Today at approximately 10:30 am (Gaza time) US Central Command (USCENTCOM) began delivery of humanitarian assistance ashore in Gaza. Today, a total of approximately 492 metric tons (~1.1 million pounds) of much needed humanitarian assistance was delivered to the people of Gaza,” CENTCOM said on social media platform X.
Gaza has been devastated by Israeli operations against Palestinian militant group Hamas now entering their ninth month, uprooting the coastal territory’s population and leaving them in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
More than two million pounds of humanitarian aid were delivered via the pier last month, but it was damaged by high seas around a week after deliveries began.
The pier was repaired in the Israeli port of Ashdod before being brought back to the Gaza coast and reestablished on Friday.
Israel has been accused of delaying the entry of aid into Gaza, depriving the territory’s 2.4 million people of clean water, food, medicines and fuel.
Plans for the pier were first announced by US President Joe Biden in early March and US Army troops and vessels soon set out on a lengthy trip to the Mediterranean to build the pier.
In addition to working to establish a maritime corridor for aid shipments, the United States has delivered assistance by air, but the air drops were suspended due to fighting in northern Gaza.