The first deliveries of aid to the Gaza Strip through a temporary U.S.-made pier on the territory’s coastline began Friday, the United States said, as Israeli military operations in the southern part of the Strip left what had been the main artery for aid shuttered.
The pier was anchored to a beach in Gaza on Thursday, Central Command said, after President Biden had announced the project in March amid hurdles facing aid deliveries by land. The maritime operation is a multinational one, Central Command said. The aid offloaded Friday was supplied by the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Britain, said Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Humanitarian organizations were “finalizing operational plans” to distribute the aid “while ensuring the safety of staff,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency. The World Food Program, the primary U.N. agency involved in managing the aid once it reaches the shore, has sought guarantees from Israel that its routes won’t face bottlenecks caused by Israeli military checkpoints. Dozens of U.N. workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, including one this week whose vehicle was struck by the Israeli military despite traveling on a route shared with Israel, the United Nations said.
Aid groups cautioned that even when the temporary pier becomes fully functional, its capacity will pale in comparison to the scale of aid needed in Gaza.
GET CAUGHT UP
Summarized stories to quickly stay informed
“The pier that opened today does not replace or substitute for land crossings into Gaza, every one of which needs to operate at maximum capacity and efficiency,” Power said. “Every moment that a crossing is not open, that trucks are not moving or where aid cannot safely be distributed increases the terrible human costs of this conflict.”
Laerke said any aid coming into Gaza was welcome, but “getting aid to people in need, into and across Gaza, cannot and should not depend on a floating dock.”
The nascent operation on Gaza’s coastline creates another entry point for aid as the main land crossing in southern Gaza, Rafah, remained closed Friday because of ongoing fighting. Israeli forces pushed deeper into the city where many Gazans had sought refuge. More than 630,000 have now fled once again, according to U.N. estimates.
“The addition of 90 to 100 trucks a day is negligible. Every bit can help — but this is not a solution to the actual problem,” said Kate Phillips-Barrasso, vice president of global policy and advocacy for Mercy Corps. “This wouldn’t have been enough aid to make a difference, and it is now truly a drop in the ocean with the Rafah crossing closed.”
South Africa warned this week at the International Court of Justice, where it lodged a case against Israel accusing its leaders of committing genocide against the Palestinians, that Rafah was the “last stand” and that Israel’s actions in the city are aimed at destroying “the essential foundations of Palestinian life” there.
Israel on Friday rejected the allegations. The Israeli deputy attorney general for international law, Gilad Noam, said South Africa’s accusations painted “a picture that is completely divorced from the facts and circumstances.”
Israel has said it must invade Rafah to root out remaining Hamas strongholds, telling the international court that the city was the “focal point” of Hamas activities and that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations there were “limited and localized.” Biden has warned Israel against a widespread invasion of Rafah, describing such an operation as a red line for him. A delegation of U.S. officials, led by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, is set to travel to Israel this weekend as the Biden administration seeks to convey to Israel its vision of how to wind down the war in Gaza.
Also on Friday, the IDF said it had recovered the bodies of three Israelis who were held in Gaza. Soldiers found them during a military operation in tunnels in Gaza on Thursday evening, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said. The three civilians — Yitzhak Gelernter, 58; Shani Louk, 22; and Amit Buskila, 28 — had attended the Nova music festival, which was attacked Oct. 7 as Hamas militants stormed into Israel. The IDF said the three were killed in Israel after fleeing the concert grounds.
More than 125 hostages are still being held in Gaza, according to the IDF. It’s unclear how many of them are dead.
Ellen Francis, Dan Lamothe, Alon Rom, Cate Brown, Erin Cunningham and Emily Rauhala contributed to this report.
