WASHINGTON (AP) — Trucks carrying desperately needed aid to the Gaza Strip crossed a new U.S. pier on Friday following Israeli restrictions on border crossings, making it the first time it has reached the besieged enclave. Has entered. fierce battle The delivery of food and other supplies was disrupted.
The shipment is the first in an operation that U.S. military officials expect could scale to 150 trucks per day, as Israel closes in on the southern city of Rafah in a seven-month offensive against Hamas. be.
But the U.S. and aid groups have warned that floating pier projects are no substitute for land-based deliveries. Bring all the food, water, and fuel you need In Gaza. Before the war, on average per day more than 500 trucks entered this territory.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows a pier set up by the U.S. military in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC, via AP)
of The success of the operation remains uncertain. Israel’s blockade of Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack has increased the risk of insurgent attacks, logistical hurdles and shortages of fuel for trucks. The militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage in their attacks on southern Israel. Israeli military attacks since then have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and hundreds more in the West Bank, local health officials said.
Aid agencies say food is running low and fuel is running low in southern Gaza, while the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Food Program say: Hunger is already here It is located in northern Gaza.
Troops completed setting up the floating pier on Thursday, and U.S. Central Command announced that emergency relief forces had arrived in Gaza at 9 a.m. Friday. It was announced that no US troops landed during the operation.
“This is an ongoing multinational effort to provide additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza through a maritime corridor of a completely humanitarian nature and includes aid donated by many countries and humanitarian organizations. ” said the command.
The Pentagon said no further backup is expected. distribution processwhich is coordinated by the United Nations.
But the United Nations said land-based fuel shipments have all but stopped, making it extremely difficult to get aid to people in Gaza.
“We are in dire need of fuel,” said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. “Regardless of how the aid arrives, whether it’s by sea or land, without fuel it won’t reach people.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the issue of fuel transportation comes up in all conversations between the US and Israelis. She also said the plan is to start gradually with sea routes and increase truck deliveries over time as the kinks in the system are ironed out.
Images provided by U.S. Central Command show U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the 1st Amphibious Construction Battalion, setting up Trident Pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip on Thursday. The Israeli Defense Forces are shown in the photo. May 16, 2024. (U.S. Central Command via AP)
Israel is concerned that Hamas will use the fuel in its war, but Hamas insists there are no restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid and blames the United Nations for delays in distributing supplies to Gaza. Under pressure from the United States, Israel has opened two borders in recent weeks to allow aid to reach its hard-hit northern territory.
It said a series of Hamas attacks on the key crossing Kerem Shalom had disrupted the flow of goods. The United Nations says fighting, fires in Israel and the chaotic security situation are hampering deliveries. There were also violent protests by Israelis, and aid shipments were disrupted.
Israel recently seized the key Rafah border crossing in an attack on Hamas around the city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, raising concerns for the safety of civilians, while at the same time The entrance was also blocked off.
US President Joe Biden orders pier project, expected to be costly $320 million. The aid supplies loaded onto the boats were deposited at a port facility constructed by the Israelis just southwest of Gaza City, and then distributed by aid organizations.
U.S. officials say the initial shipments will total 500 tons. The United States is working closely with Israel on how to protect ships and personnel working on its shores.
But questions remain about the safety of aid workers distributing food, said Sonali Kolde, assistant administrator for USAID’s Humanitarian Assistance Office, which helps with logistics.
Korde said the “operating environment is very unstable” and aid organizations were still struggling to obtain permission for planned movements in Gaza.
That concern was highlighted during last month’s Israeli airstrike. Killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers The trip had been coordinated with Israeli authorities. The group also brought aid by sea.
Pentagon officials said they would closely monitor the security situation and could prompt the closure of maritime routes, even temporarily. “We are confident in the ability of this security posture to protect our personnel,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters Thursday.
The site has already been targeted by mortar fire during construction, and Hamas has threatened to attack foreign forces that “occupy” the Gaza Strip.
Biden has vowed that there will be no U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza, so third-country contractors will drive trucks onto the coast.
The Israeli military is in charge of land security, but there are also two U.S. Navy warships nearby, which can protect U.S. soldiers and others.
Aid supplies shipped by sea are collected and inspected in Cyprus, then loaded onto ships and transported approximately 200 miles (320 km) to Cyprus. big floating pier Off the coast of Gaza. There, the pallets are transferred to trucks, boarded by army boats, and transported back and forth from the pier to a floating causeway anchored to the shore. The truck exits the aid and returns to the boat.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
