Washington — Trucks carrying much-needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled to of new construction Temporary USA floating dock in the besieged enclave for the first time on Friday, as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting make it difficult for food and other supplies to reach people there.
The shipment is the first of an operation that US military officials anticipate could escalate to 150 trucks a day entering the Gaza Strip as Israel. pressure in the southern city of Rafah and his 7-month offensive against Hamas makes angry
But the US and aid groups also caution that the dock project is not seen as a substitute for land deliveries that could bring all the food, water and fuel Gaza needs. Before the war, more than 500 trucks entered Gaza on an average day.
US Central Command document via Reuters
The success of the operation also remains tenuous due to the risk of militant attack, logistical obstacles and a growing shortage of fuel for trucks due to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 in which he killed 1,200 people and took 250 more hostages. Israel's offensive since then has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, officials at the Hamas-run health ministry say, while hundreds more have been killed in the West Bank.
The US military's Central Command acknowledged the aid movement in a statement on Friday, saying the first aid arrived in Gaza at 9am. He said no US troops landed in the operation.
“This is an ongoing multinational effort to provide additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza through a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature, and will involve aid products donated by various countries and humanitarian organizations,” the command said.
Photographs released Thursday by CENTCOM showed aid being loaded onto a barge at the nearby Israeli port of Ashdod.
Sgt. Malcolm Cohens-Ashley / US Army via AP
Troopers finished installing the floating dock Thursday. Hours later, the Pentagon said humanitarian aid would start flowing soon and that no backups were expected in the distribution process, which is being coordinated by the United Nations.
Feed a critical concern
The UN, however, said that fuel deliveries brought by land routes have stopped and this will make it extremely difficult to get aid to the people of Gaza.
“We are in desperate need of fuel,” said UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. “It doesn't matter how the aid arrives, whether by sea or by land; without fuel, the aid will not reach the people.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the topic of fuel deliveries comes up in every conversation the United States has with the Israelis. He also said the plan is to start slow with the sea route and increase truck deliveries over time as the system issues are worked out.
Aid agencies say food is running out in southern Gaza and fuel is running low, while the United States Agency for International Development and the World Food Program say hunger has taken hold north of Gaza.
Israel says it does not put limits on the entry of humanitarian aid and blames the UN for delays in the distribution of goods entering Gaza. The UN says fighting, Israeli fire and chaotic security conditions have hampered the handover. Israel also fears that Hamas will use the fuel in its fight against Israeli troops.
Constant challenges for aid delivery
Under US pressure, Israel has in recent weeks opened a pair of crossings to deliver aid to hard-hit northern Gaza, saying a series of attacks by Hamas on the main crossing, Kerem Shalom, had disrupted the flow of goods There have also been violent protests by Israelis that have disrupted aid shipments.
Israel recently seized the key Rafah border crossing in its push against Hamas around this city on the Egyptian border, raising fears about the safety of civilians while cutting off the main entrance of aid to the Gaza Strip.
President Biden ordered the pier project, which was expected to cost $320 million. The aid-laden ships will be deposited at an Israeli-built port facility southwest of Gaza City and then distributed to aid groups.
US officials said the initial shipment totaled 500 tons of aid. The US has been coordinating closely with Israel on how to protect the ships and personnel working on the beach.
But questions remain about how aid groups will safely operate in Gaza to distribute food, said Sonali Korde, assistant administrator for USAID's Office of Humanitarian Assistance, which is helping with logistics.
“There is a very insecure operating environment” and aid groups are still struggling to get clearance for their planned movements into Gaza, Korde said.
The fear follows an Israeli strike last month that killed seven World Central Kitchen relief workers whose travel had been coordinated with Israeli officials, and the deaths of other aid personnel during the war.
Pentagon officials have made it clear that safety conditions will be closely monitored and could lead to a closure of the sea route, even temporarily. Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Army Central Command, told reporters on Thursday that “we are confident in the ability of this security agreement to protect those involved.”
The site has already been targeted by mortar fire during its construction, and Hamas has threatened to attack any foreign force that “occupies” the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Biden has made it clear that there will be no US forces on the ground in Gaza, so third-country contractors will drive the trucks to the coast. Cooper said that “the United Nations will receive the aid and coordinate its distribution in Gaza.”
The World Food Program will be the UN agency managing the aid, officials said.
Israeli forces provide security on the ground, but there are also two US Navy warships nearby that can protect US and other troops.
Aid for the sea route is collected and inspected in Cyprus, then loaded onto ships and taken some 200 miles to the large US-built floating dock. There, the pallets are transferred to trucks that then drive to army ships. Once the trucks leave the aid on the ground, they immediately turn around to return to the boats.
