The installation of a temporary floating pier anchored to a beach outside of Gaza City, built by the Americans in order to move more humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, has been completed and in the coming days trucks will begin to the IDF spokesman said on Thursday.
Temporary floating pier built by the Americans to ferry humanitarian aid into Gaza
In recent weeks, the Israel Defense Forces and the Defense Ministry have made extensive preparations for the reception of the floating dock, which was built off the coast of Gaza City. Two ships carrying humanitarian aid that were checked in Cyprus are expected to arrive on Friday.
The preparations were carried out in recent weeks by the Engineering and Construction Division of the Defense Ministry of Defense, the Southern Command's engineering formation, the 563rd Construction Division, the Navy, the Technology and Logistics Division, and the Coordinator of Government Operations in the Territories, in cooperation with the U.S. Army.
"There is an ongoing humanitarian effort and we are working in cooperation with the Central Command of the U.S. Army to establish the floating dock for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip," according to the IDF.
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Completion of the floating pier to bring aid into Gaza
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Hagari referred to the completion of the construction of the pier on Thursday evening in his statement to the media. In the coming days, the floating dock led by the U.S., in coordination with the IDF, will begin operating, he said.
"The pier will allow humanitarian equipment to be brought in by sea and will be added to the additional efforts of bringing in aid," Hagari said, adding: "Today we brought in about 350 trucks of humanitarian aid to Gaza."
In Gaza, the Palestinians filmed the aid ships approaching the floating dock.
Two ships carrying aid left Cyprus for the temporary pier located several kilometers from the shores of Gaza. Upon arrival they will be unloaded, repackaged and loaded onto smaller ships that can carry between 5 and 15 loads of aid. These ships will bring the aid packages to a dock where trucks will bring the aid to shore. The shipments will be received by the World Food Program and the United Nations.
On March 8, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the construction of the pier in Gaza during his annual State of the Nation address to Congress, and on April 25, the Pentagon announced that the US military had begun its construction, to help relieve the famine in Gaza. At the time of the announcement it was clear that the construction of the pier would be a logistical nightmare that would take several weeks to complete.