First aid supplies are entering the new pier in the Gaza Strip, although aid remains out of reach of those in need for many reasons, according to Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).
A week ago, first aid deliveries reached a new temporary pier in the Gaza Strip. The deliveries brought much-needed humanitarian aid to the conflict zone. Since Israel announced its controversial Rafah offenisve, the transport of humanitarian aid by land has largely stopped.
The cost of building such a massive project on such short notice was significant. Two thousand US soldiers built the new pier system in two months. The entire project cost about $320 million. Last week, a sobering initial result emerged: many of the humanitarian supplies delivered have not been handed over to the general Palestinian population.
Delivering humanitarian aid by sea
The new pier in the Gaza Strip is part of the JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore) project. This military method allows goods to be unloaded in areas where there are no suitable pier facilities. For example, JLOTS was used after the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia to deliver humanitarian aid to remote coastal areas.
In Gaza, delivery by sea is also a problem: the waters off the coast are too shallow for the large ships needed for extensive aid deliveries. The new JLOTS system is designed to ensure that humanitarian aid can be delivered in several stages, despite the shallow waters off the Gaza Strip.
The UN has agreed to help coordinate the distribution of aid. Their job is to transport humanitarian aid from the logistics area of the new pier facility to numerous UN warehouses throughout the Gaza Strip. From there, the humanitarian aid is transported to direct distribution sites for those in need. This is exactly what the plan called for.
How worked the first aid deliveries?
After two months of construction, the first lorries rolled through the newly opened pier into Gaza last Friday, which is supposed to be encouraging. The UN confirmed to Reuters ten lorries carrying humanitarian aid could be successfully transported to the UN warehouse.
Although an additional sixteen lorries full of humanitarian aid arrived in the Gaza Strip through the new pier on Saturday, only five of them reached the UN warehouse. Thus, problems appeared the very next day. Crowds stopped the other eleven lorries on their way to the warehouses and looted the aid supplies in dramatic scenes.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, recounted earlier exactly how the first few days unfolded:
On Friday, there were about 10 trucks that made it. On Saturday, there were 16 trucks that left the floating pier. But 11 of those trucks never made it to the warehouse. Crowds had stopped the trucks at various points along the way. There was, you know, what I think I would refer to as self-distribution. These trucks were travelling through areas where there’d been no aid. I think people feared that they would never see aid. They grabbed what they could. So, only 5 of the 16 trucks made it to the warehouse.
As a result, no more humanitarian supplies left the pier on Sunday and Monday. In addition, few safe routes have been created for lorries, as the Israeli military has restricted road access and Israeli airstrikes have destroyed much of the infrastructure.
According to US Central Command (CENTCOM) over 569 tonnes of humanitarian supplies reached the Gaza Strip via the new sea route in the first few days. However, most of the goods either got stuck in the new port or were looted before they could reach warehouses and thus the general population.
Again, it all comes down to the fact that a ceasefire is the one and only way to deliver humanitarian aid without incident. Dujarric said:
I think, you know, the fact that the trucks didn’t make it underscores the need for consistent delivery of aid and obviously for a ceasefire so we have access to aid that is needed – so people know that when they see a truck, there will be more trucks, that there is more aid in the pipeline, and it’s not just one off.
Further steps
Before the full potential of the port facility can be utilised, a lot of action and hard decisions need to be made. The US, Israel and the UN have been working together to find solutions to create alternative routes for the safe delivery of aid Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Tuesday. Since then, the delivery of humanitarian aid to UN warehouses has been able to resume.
Further aid shipments are reaching the Gaza Strip by sea: 27 more lorries carrying urgently needed humanitarian supplies passed through the new port this Wednesday. It remains to be seen whether land transport and distribution of humanitarian aid to the population can be successful in the long term.
Aid agencies emphasise that the new sea route does not replace humanitarian aid transported by land. The capacity of the new port is insufficient compared to the level of aid needed in Gaza – even if it is fully operational. In addition, the UN says at least 500 lorries of humanitarian aid a day are needed to meet humanitarian needs in Gaza.
According to the Pentagon, people are expecting up to 150 lorries a day for the new port. However, in the first three days, only 26 lorries have managed to reach the Gaza Strip by sea. A total of 44 lorries of humanitarian aid reportedly arrived at the warehouses “without incident” on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip remains challenging. In addition to logistical obstacles, waves on the Gaza coast are now also a problem. Unstable weather conditions severely limit the use of the harbour. The new harbour is several metres above the water and can only be used in one place maximum wave height of 0.9 metres operate safely.
Ongoing Israeli offensive on Rafah
Judges at the UN’s highest court ordered Israel to halt its offensive on the southern Gaza town of Rafah, but the very next day Israeli forces killed more than 30 people in fresh attacks in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said last night.
The International Court of Justice does not have the means to enforce its emergency judgement in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide. But the case was a stark sign of Israel’s global isolation over its campaign in Gaza, especially since it launched an offensive on Rafah this month against the pleas of the US.
Israel continues its offensive against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel has said it is conducting operations in Rafah, despite growing international opposition, to withdraw Hamas battalions holed up there. Some of its hostages are also being held there. Rafah is a refuge camp for Gazans fleeing fighting in other parts of the enclave. After Rafah was also targeted, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled the city.
Fighting continues on the southern outskirts of Rafah and in eastern neighbourhoods away from the most populated areas. The White House has urged Israel not to enter more central areas, saying Israel has yet to show a credible plan on how to do so without causing mass casualties.
Despite, negotiations between the two sides are due to resume next week, an official familiar with the matter said. The decision on the talks was reportedly made after the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency met with the head of the CIA and Qatar’s prime minister. Hamas, however, did not comment on the status of the talks.
The Israel-Hamas conflict began after militants attacked Israel’s southern borders on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli calculations. Israel launched a retaliatory counter-offensive that has killed more than 35,000 so far, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
