US removes Gaza aid pier due to weather and may not put it back, officials say

A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. [Leo Correa/AP]

The pier built by the US military to bring aid to Gaza has been removed due to weather to protect it, and the US is considering not re-installing it unless the aid begins flowing out into the population again, US officials said Friday.

While the military has helped deliver desperately needed food through the pier, the vast majority of it is still sitting in the adjacent storage yard and that area is almost full. Aid agencies have had difficulty moving the food to areas further into Gaza where it is most needed because the humanitarian convoys have come under attack.

The UN, which has the widest reach in delivering aid to starving Palestinians, hasn't been distributing food and other emergency supplies arriving through the pier since June 9. The pause came after the Israeli military used an area near the pier to fly out hostages after their rescue in a raid that killed...

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