Updated 01.41 | Published 01.32
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full screen Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder. Archive image. Photo: Kevin Wolf/AP/TT
The United States military has begun construction of the previously promised temporary port in Gaza to facilitate aid deliveries by sea, the Pentagon confirms.
“I can confirm that US military vessels … have begun construction of the initial stages of the temporary pier,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday.
The pier is expected to be operational in early May and everything is going according to plan, according to Ryder.
The emergency aid will first arrive in Cyprus for inspection and then be delivered by sea to a floating platform off the coast of Gaza. From there, smaller ships must take help ashore with the help of trucks. The pier is expected to initially be able to bring in 90 trucks with emergency aid per day, to be later expanded to 150 trucks.
Israeli military is responsible for anchoring the pier ashore and no US soldiers will work on the ground in Gaza, according to Ryder.