The US military has confirmed that the first aid shipment via a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza has successfully reached shore.
According to US Central Command, the aid trucks began moving ashore around 09:00 local time (07:00 BST).
The Command emphasized in a post on X that this operation is part of an ongoing, multinational humanitarian effort to deliver essential aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor, clarifying that no US troops went ashore during this operation.
However, the United Nations has cautioned that the maritime corridor cannot replace the efficiency and speed of land routes, which are deemed the quickest and most effective for delivering aid.
In the coming days, it is expected that around 500 tonnes of aid will enter Gaza, as per US Central Command’s estimates.
British personnel have been collaborating with US counterparts on the RFA Cardigan Bay to construct and operate the temporary pier, as confirmed by the UK Ministry of Defence.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps stated, “The newly operational pier off the coast of Gaza will enable truckloads of humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in dire need.”
The US began constructing the floating base several weeks ago to facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza amidst Israel’s ongoing military campaign against Hamas.
Hundreds of tonnes of aid arrived in Cyprus on Wednesday, where it was screened before being loaded onto commercial ships for delivery to the pier.
These smaller US military vessels, which can carry between five and 15 lorries of aid, will transport it to a floating pier fixed to the beach in Gaza.
The lorries will then travel along the pier to a marshalling yard on the beach to unload the aid.
The UN, primarily through the World Food Programme, will be responsible for the distribution of the aid once it reaches the shore.
This marks the opening of a new route for humanitarian assistance to reach the heavily impacted Gaza Strip, where approximately 2.2 million Palestinians are in urgent need of food, shelter, and other support.
Aid deliveries to Gaza have been significantly hampered since Israeli forces gained control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing last week.
Earlier this month, the vital Kerem Shalom crossing was shut overnight by Israel after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers near the crossing.
Delivering aid via land routes poses significant risks, with aid convoys sometimes looted by gangs or mobbed by desperate civilians. In
April, an Israeli drone strike tragically killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen organization.
