- The United Nations is planning a new route for delivering aid from a US-built floating dock in the Gaza Strip after crowds blocked 11 trucks, halting deliveries for several days.
- The temporary jetty was erected last Thursday amid international pressure on Israel to increase supplies to the Gaza Strip.
- Operation Pier, announced by President Biden, will cost $320 million and involve 1,000 U.S. military personnel.
The United Nations is trying to transport aid supplies from a U.S.-built floating pier inside the Gaza Strip after a crowd of desperate Partinians blocked 11 trucks, causing a delivery outage that lasted for a third day on Tuesday. We are planning a new route.
The temporary pier was built last week amid mounting global pressure for Israel to allow more supplies to flow into the besieged coastal enclave, which is at war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and facing famine. It anchored off the coast of Gaza on Thursday.
The operation began on Friday, when 10 aid trucks, driven by UN contractors, arrived at a World Food Program warehouse in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip. But on Saturday, only five trucks reached the warehouse and 11 others were blocked.
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“Crowds stopped the trucks at various points along the way. There was what I would call voluntary distribution,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Tuesday.
Palestinians gather in anticipation of aid being delivered to Gaza through a U.S.-built pier as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, as seen from the central Gaza Strip on May 19, 2024. (Reuters/Ramadan Abed/File Photo)
“These trucks were going through areas where there had been no aid before. I think people were afraid that no aid was coming. They grabbed what they could,” he said. Ta.
Abeer Etefa, WFP spokesperson in Cairo, said the distribution was suspended as the UN planned new routes and delivery adjustments to prevent further aid blockage.
“The mission was scheduled to take place today using a new route to avoid congestion,” she said. Dujarric later said no aid deliveries had been made from the pier since Saturday.
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“We are waiting for American aid.”
The pier, which has been viewed with a mixture of excitement and skepticism by Gaza residents, was announced by US President Joe Biden in March and is estimated to cost $320 million and involve 1,000 US military personnel.
“Once the[Israeli]occupation is completely over, the pier should be there. Then it will be good for us. Good to travel and get things. Abu Nadi al-Haddad said, questioning why it was needed now. Considering there were several land routes.
Another resident, Abu Nasser Abu Kousa, came to the coastal road near the pier with his four-year-old son and a donkey-drawn cart to seek help.
“We are waiting for American aid, but we got nothing,” he said, adding that he lost his home in the war and was forced to flee many times. “God willing we’ll be back tomorrow, hoping we can get help to help us survive.”
U.S. officials said once the pier is operational, it will initially be able to transport 90 trucks per day, but that number could rise to 150. The United Nations said at least 500 trucks a day are needed to enter Gaza.
Aid unloaded at the pier arrives from Cyprus via a maritime corridor, where it is first inspected by Israel. Two ships carrying aid left Cyprus earlier this month, and the Pentagon said more than 569 tons of aid had been delivered to Gaza.
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Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday that “that number will continue to grow as there is more going on.”
It was not immediately clear how much of the 569 tons of aid donated by the United States, Britain, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union was still waiting to be transported by U.N.-contracted trucks, according to the Pentagon. Ta.
Israel is retaliating against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people, after an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militants killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. It is believed that around 130 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip.
According to Gaza health officials, Israel has launched air, land and sea attacks on the blockaded Palestinian territory, killing more than 35,000 Palestinians.
Aid shipments to southern Gaza have been cut off since Israel stepped up its military operation in Rafah, a move that has displaced 900,000 people, according to the United Nations.
