Aid trucks begin moving ashore via Gaza temporary pier: US

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance on Friday began moving ashore via a temporary pier in the Gaza Strip, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced.

"Today at approximately 9 a.m. (Gaza time), trucks carrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore via a temporary pier in Gaza," CENTCOM said in a statement.

No US troops went ashore in Gaza, CENTCOM said.

"This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature, and will involve aid commodities donated by a number of countries and humanitarian organizations," it added.

Early Thursday, CENTCOM said that the floating pier was anchored to the beach in Gaza and trucks carrying humanitarian assistance are expected to begin moving ashore "in the coming days."

The Pentagon announced March 8 that it would undertake an emergency mission to establish the pier to deliver up to 2 million meals per day.

The mission includes a floating pier -- an 1,800-foot-long causeway -- that will be attached to the shore and a group of logistic support vessels.

Israel's onslaught on Gaza, which began after an Oct. 7 incursion by the Palestinian group, Hamas, has devastated the enclave and plunged 2.3 million residents into a humanitarian catastrophe.