US military starts building Gaza aid pier

WASHINGTON: The US military has begun construction on a pier meant to boost deliveries of desperately needed aid to Gaza, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

The small coastal territory has been devastated by more than six months of Israeli bombardment and ground operations against Hamas militants, leaving the civilian population in need of humanitarian assistance to survive.

“I can confirm that US military vessels ... have begun to construct the initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists.

Indications are that the pier will be operational in early May, and “everything is on course at this point,” he said.

Highlighting the dangers in Gaza, Ryder said that ‘some type of mortar attack’ caused minimal damage near an onshore area that will eventually be a delivery site for aid.

The Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs said militants fired mortars Wednesday at a humanitarian work site in northern Gaza during a visit by UN personnel, with no casualties reported.

The military official also outlined how the maritime aid delivery process will work, saying assistance will first come into Cyprus, where it will be screened and prepared for delivery.

Aid will then be loaded onto commercial vessels for transportation to a floating platform miles off the coast of Gaza. There, it will be transferred to smaller vessels that will take the assistance to a pier that is anchored to the shore. — AFP