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US Officials: Gaza Pier Project Starting to Get More Aid
A new US-led pier project in Gaza is beginning to provide more aid to Palestinians in need, but the conditions remain challenging, according to US officials. The floating pier faced a troubled launch, with crowds overrunning some of the first trucks and one man being shot dead. The US military has worked with the UN and Israeli officials to select safer alternate routes for trucks coming from the pier. The pier accounted for 27 of the 70 total trucks of aid that the UN was able to round up from all land and sea crossings into Gaza for distribution to civilians. However, the US officials aim to bring in 150 truckloads of food and other supplies when the sea route is working at maximum capacity. The Gaza needs 600 trucks entering each day to curb a famine that has begun in the north and to keep it from spreading south. Israeli military operations have made it difficult for humanitarian organizations to retrieve aid from another border crossing for distribution. The Biden administration launched the $320 million floating pier for a new maritime aid route into Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war and Israeli restrictions on land crossings have severely limited food deliveries to 2.3 million Palestinians. US officials stressed the need for flow through open land crossings for the remaining 1.8 million.
