The pier was damaged in a storm at the end of May after being in operation for less than a week. The US military believes that it will be possible to deliver more emergency aid in the future.
The United States has continued to deliver emergency aid to the Gaza Strip through a temporary shipping dock, the US military says in the X message service.
According to Centcom, the headquarters of the US military’s Middle East military domain, the unloading of humanitarian aid in Gaza began on Saturday at half past eleven in the morning. A total of around 492 tons of aid was delivered during the day.
According to the headquarters, no members of the US armed forces landed in Gaza, and Centcom reiterated that the operation was purely humanitarian.
– The temporary pier was built for one purpose only: to help bring urgently needed additional aid to Gaza, Centcom said in its message.
The US Department of Defense says that a total of more than 1,500 tons of emergency aid has been delivered to the Gaza Strip.
Through the pier, which was opened in mid-May, humanitarian aid could only be transported for about a week before it was damaged. The pier was connected to the shore again on Friday.
The pier was undergoing repairs at the Israeli port of Ashdod after stormy winds and heavy waves damaged the pier on May 25. Three Americans were injured in the storm and four American ships ran aground due to heavy waves.
“It is possible to deliver emergency aid in larger quantities”
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper Centcomista told reporters on Friday that based on what he learned from the first week, he is confident that it is possible to deliver emergency aid in larger quantities in the future.
The US Development Cooperation Agency cooperates with, among others, the UN’s World Food Program WFP, in order to deliver food, first aid for starving children, and other emergency aid to the Gaza Strip by sea.
Aid organizations have pressured Israel to open land routes for emergency aid so that all the necessary aid could reach Gaza. Israel says it has allowed hundreds of aid trucks to pass through the southern checkpoint and says the UN has failed to deliver emergency aid. The UN, in turn, says that the delivery of aid has not been successful due to the unstable security situation.
UN organizations have warned that more than a million Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of severe starvation in mid-July if the war in Gaza continues.
Sources: AP, AFP, STT