Washington said it completed the installation of a floating pier to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and officials said they were ready to begin delivering food and medicine to the enclave.
The new sea route will boost aid for Gaza Strip residents amid more than seven months of intense fighting between Hamas and the Israeli army.
However, the route will not replace much cheaper land transport, which aid agencies say is far more sustainable.
The aid boats will arrive at a port facility built by the Israelis southwest of Gaza City and then will come to aid groups.
US troops will not enter Gaza, US officials insist, although they acknowledge the dangers of operating near a war zone.
Pentagon officials said the fighting in Gaza does not threaten the new aid distribution area on the coastline, but they made clear that security conditions will be closely monitored and could lead to the closure of the sea route, even just temporarily. The facility has already come under mortar fire during construction, and Hamas has threatened to strike any foreign forces that “occupy” the Gaza Strip.
US troops anchored off the floating pier at 7:40 a.m. local time on Thursday, the Armed Forces Central Command said in a statement, stressing that none of its forces entered the Gaza Strip. The statement said:
Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance are expected to begin moving ashore in the coming days. The United Nations will receive the aid and coordinate its distribution into Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli army killed three Palestinians during an overnight raid in the town of Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank.
The army stormed the town from the western entrance, deployed its forces on the roads and snipers on many of the town’s buildings, and opened indiscriminate fire. Israeli troops also blew up the gates of the money exchange and looted it.
