War in the Middle East: Pentagon: Relief supplies on the beach in Gaza

There are still problems with the delivery of humanitarian aid via the temporary dock set up by the US military on the coast of the Gaza Strip. The relief supplies are on the beach but are not currently being distributed, said US Department of Defense spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on Wednesday when asked. “As far as I know, the aid has been collected in the port area since it arrived yesterday and today and is being prepared for distribution by the World Food Program. As far as I know, however, the distribution has not yet taken place.”

The World Food Programme (WFP) had stopped the distribution of relief supplies delivered via the pier over the weekend due to concerns for the safety of its staff. Two of the organisation’s warehouses had previously come under rocket fire, injuring one staff member.

Deliveries only started again on Saturday morning after the pier was badly damaged by rough waves at the end of May and had to be repaired. According to the WFP, the attack took place on the same day. Pentagon spokeswoman Singh said on Wednesday that the WFP was currently taking the necessary precautions “to feel safe and to be able to operate in Gaza.” There was nothing standing in the way of this and they were ready to cooperate as soon as the checks were completed. For further information, she referred to the organization itself.

The temporary arrangement involves freighters bringing aid supplies from Cyprus to a floating platform a few kilometers off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The goods are then loaded onto smaller ships that can sail closer to the coast. These then dock with the truckloads at the temporary pier attached to the coast. There, the supplies are received by aid organizations and then distributed in the Gaza Strip. The estimated cost of the pier is around 230 million US dollars (around 212 million euros).