The United Nations is transporting thousands of tons of humanitarian supplies from a US-built pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip after the temporary port was suspended due to bad weather, an aid official said on Sunday.
Workers began transporting the piled-up aid, mostly food, to warehouses on Friday, World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Abeer Etefa told dpa. The aid will be distributed later.
The transfer operation is still ongoing and its completion depends on “easy movement” within the coastal enclave, Etefa added. She said she has no idea what will happen to the pier.
The port was dismantled several times due to bad weather. The $300 million pier became operational in mid-May to serve as a hub for the delivery of much-needed aid to Gaza.
On Friday, the Pentagon said the U.S. military was temporarily dismantling the pier due to heavy seas and strong winds. No date was given for the facility’s reinstallation.
The WFP, a UN agency, recently halted the distribution of aid following a large-scale Israeli military operation near the pier.
Israel has been bombing Gaza for months since Palestinian Hamas militants launched unprecedented bloody attacks on Israel last October, causing massacres of civilians.
Israel responded to the attacks by sealing off the impoverished area. A lack of basic services has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
