WASHINGTON: Badly needed aid has been delivered into Gaza from a newly repaired American-built pier, a US official said Saturday, following problems that had plagued the effort to bring supplies to Palestinians by sea.
The pier constructed by the American military was only operational for about a week before it was blown apart in high winds and heavy seas on May 25. The damaged section was reconnected to the beach in Gaza on Friday after undergoing repairs at an Israeli port.
Crews delivered about 1.1 million pounds (492 metric tons) of humanitarian aid to Gaza via the pier on Saturday, the US official said. They spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement of the delivery.
It came the same day that Israel mounted a heavy air and ground assault that rescued four hostages, who had been taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 assault that launched the war in Gaza. At least 210 Palestinians, including children, were killed, a Gaza health official said.
It brings back online one way to get desperately needed food and other emergency supplies to Palestinians trapped by the eight-month-old Israel-Hamas war. Israeli restrictions on land crossings, and fighting, have greatly limited the flow of food and other vital supplies into the territory.
The damage to the pier was the latest stumbling block for the project and the persistent struggle to get food to starving Palestinians. Three US service members were injured, one critically, and four vessels were beached due to heavy seas.
Early efforts to get aid from the pier into the Gaza Strip were disrupted as crowds overran a convoy of trucks that aid agencies were using to transport the food, stripping the cargo from many of them before they could reach a UN warehouse. Officials responded by altering the travel routes, and aid began reaching those in need.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, told reporters on Friday that the lessons learned from that initial week of operations made him confident greater amounts of aid could be delivered now.
He said the goal was to get to 1 million pounds (500 tons or 450 metric tons) of food and other supplies moving through the pier into Gaza every two days. Before the causeway broke apart in the storm, more than 1,100 tons (1,000 metric tons) of aid were delivered, Pentagon officials said.
The US Agency for International Development is working with the UN World Food Program and their humanitarian partners working in Gaza to distribute food, high-nutrition emergency treatment for starving children, and other aid via the sea route.
Relief agencies have pressed Israel to reopen land routes that could bring in all the needed aid. Israel says it has allowed hundreds of trucks to enter through a southern checkpoint and pointed the finger at the UN for not distributing aid. The UN says it is often unable to retrieve the aid because of the security situation.
UN agencies have warned that over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by the middle of next month if hostilities continue.
President Joe Biden’s administration has said from the start that the pier wasn’t meant to be a total solution and that any amount of aid helps.
Biden, a Democrat, announced his plan for the US military to build a pier during his State of the Union address in early March, and the military said it would take about 60 days to get it installed and operational. It took a bit longer than planned, with the first trucks carrying aid for the Gaza Strip rolling down the pier on May 17.
The initial cost was estimated at $320 million, but the Pentagon said this past week that the price had dropped to $230 million, due to contributions from Britain and because the cost of contracting trucks and other equipment was less than expected.

RIYADH: The 160th Ministerial Council meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council will convene in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Sunday in the presence of the foreign ministers of the Gulf countries.
Two joint ministerial meetings will also be held on the sidelines, the first between the GCC and Turkiye with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and the second with Yemen Yemen, represented by Foreign Minister Shaya Mohsin Zindani, the GCC said in a statement.
GCC Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi said that the ministerial council will discuss a number of reports on the implementation of the decisions of the Supreme Council that were issued at the 44th summit in Doha in December 2023, as well as memorandums and reports submitted by ministerial and technical committees and the General Secretariat, related to joint Gulf action.
He said that the session will also discuss dialogues and strategic relations between the GCC countries and other countries and blocs around the world, and regional and international developments.
Albudaiwi said that, out of the keenness of the GCC countries to intensify and strengthen their relations and partnerships with countries, allies, and regional and international organizations, the Gulf-Turkish meeting will be held where several topics will be discussed, the most important of which is the joint action plan and ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries.
The GCC-Yemeni meeting will discuss and the bloc’s firm position “in support of the legitimate government in Yemen and the resolution of the Yemeni crisis through a political solution in accordance with the three references, represented in the GCC Initiative, the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, and Security Council Resolution 2216,” he said.
The meeting will also look at ways tostrengthen the joint GCC efforts to assist the Yemeni people to ensure their stability and security, he added.