The United Nations is moving thousands of tons of humanitarian supplies from a US-built pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip after the temporary port was suspended due to bad weather, an aid official said on Sunday.
Workers began on Friday transporting the accumulated aid, mainly food, to warehouses, World Food Program (WFP) spokesperson Abeer Etefa told DPA. Aid will be distributed later.
The transfer operation is ongoing and its completion depends on the “ease of circulation” within the coastal enclave, Etefa added, saying he had no idea of the fate of the pier.
The port has been dismantled several times due to bad weather. The $300 million pier became operational in mid-May to serve as a hub for delivering desperately needed aid supplies to Gaza.
On Friday, the Pentagon said the US military was temporarily dismantling the pier due to rough seas and high winds. No date has been given for the reinstallation of the facility.
WFP, a UN agency, recently suspended aid distribution following a massive Israeli military operation near the pier.
Israel has been bombing Gaza for months, since Palestinian Hamas militants launched unprecedented bloody attacks against Israel in October last year, which included massacres of civilians.
Israel responded to the attacks by isolating the impoverished territory. The lack of basic supplies has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
