The U.S. military finished installing a floating pier for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with officials poised to begin ferrying badly needed humanitarian aid into the enclave besieged over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war.

The final, overnight construction sets up a complicated delivery process more than two months after U.S. President Joe Biden ordered it to help Palestinians facing starvation as food and other supplies fail to make it in as Israel recently seized the key Rafah border crossing in its push on that southern city on the Egyptian border.

Fraught with logistical, weather and security challenges, the maritime route is designed to bolster the amount of aid getting into the Gaza Strip, but it is not considered a substitute for far cheaper land-based deliveries that aid agencies say are much more sustainable. The boatloads of aid will be deposited at a port facility built by the Israelis just southwest of Gaza City and then distributed by aid groups.

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
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      6 months ago

      Individual nations are involved. The only presence the UN had was UNRWA and Netanyahu made sure they (mostly) disappeared … although currently an UNRWA health clinic is being shelled by the IDF. Source

      • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I see your point, but it’s hard to tell if that’s the IDF targeting the UN or Gaza aid in general. They’ve been openly critical of both, but they’ve also attacked World Central Kitchen twice.

        https://wck.org/news/amro