The US completes the installation of a floating dock on the coast of Gaza for the delivery of humanitarian aid

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He states that the entry of aid will begin “in the coming days” and emphasizes that “no” military personnel entered the enclave during the work.

May 16. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United States Army announced this Thursday the completion of work on the installation of a floating dock on a beach in the Gaza Strip to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave, the target of a military offensive for more than seven months. by Israel following the attacks carried out on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has indicated that the work has been completed around 7:40 a.m. (local time) by military personnel who “support the humanitarian mission to deliver additional humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in need.” “.

Likewise, he stressed that “no” US military has entered the Strip “as part of these efforts” and added that “trucks with humanitarian aid are expected to begin moving to the coast in the coming days.”

“The United Nations will receive the aid and will coordinate its distribution in Gaza,” CENTCOM concluded in a statement on its account on the social network Strip and the closure of the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt.

Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said Tuesday that the World Food Program (WFP) will be leading the distribution of aid unloaded from the temporary dock. Aid will arrive through an open sea corridor from Cyprus.

Cyprus opened a maritime corridor to Gaza in March to try to increase aid shipments in the face of restrictions imposed by Israel on land crossings. The corridor was used twice by the World Central Kitchen (WCK) organization, although it suspended operations after the death of seven of its workers in an Israeli bombing on April 1.

The Israeli Army has increased its bombings against Rafah and other cities in the Palestinian enclave in recent weeks and on May 7 it took control of the Palestinian side of the border crossing, suspending humanitarian operations, which has increased international concern. due to the deepening of the humanitarian crisis due to the offensive, which has already left more than 35,200 dead.

The operation against the border crossing was launched after Israel rejected a ceasefire proposal previously accepted by Hamas and amid warnings from the United States about a partial suspension of the delivery of weapons if it undertakes a large-scale offensive against the city, from which nearly 600,000 Palestinians have already fled, according to the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).