The UN, on Friday, resumed the distribution of humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians from the U.S.-built temporary pier, according to a report on NBC, which cited two American officials. This is the first time since June 9 that the aid was being delivered after it was suspended over security considerations.
According to the U.S. military's central command (CENTCOM) over 8,831 tons of aid had flowed through the pier for humanitarian aid organizations to distribute to the residents of the Strip and 4,535 were brought into Gaza just this past week.
The pier will be dismantled next month and moved to Ashdod after repeated disruptions caused by the high seas. Alternatives were being discussed between Israel the U.S. and the UN with Ashdod considered a viable option. American military officials and the IDF carried out a trial run of aid delivery from the port, overland into Gaza, which was without incident.
Some 6,800 tons of aid have been waiting inside Gaza, for three weeks, for aid organizations to collect and distribute it. "I have never seen a more challenging or more complex environment for the humanitarian community to work," said Doug Stropes, Division Chief for the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance said adding that looting aid trucks now "appeared to have expanded beyond just self-distribution."
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Hamas terrorists take over truck delivering humanitarian aid into Gaza earlier this year
(Photo: AP)
Stopes said the looting appeared to be organized. "Not in the sense of a large-scale organization but there are organized elements that are stopping and taking the commodities from the trucks," he said.