Gaza pier resumes operations after weather pause, US officials say

PHOTO CAPTION: A truck carries humanitarian aid across Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, near the Gaza coast, May 19, 2024. U.S. Army Central/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A floating U.S. military pier off Gaza has resumed bringing humanitarian aid into the enclave after being suspended for two days because of rough seas due to weather, three U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

After the pier was out of operation for 10 days for repairs, the U.S. military briefly resumed offloading aid on Saturday, but bad sea conditions halted aid movement on Sunday and Monday.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the sea conditions had improved, allowing for aid to be brought to a marshalling area.

The Pentagon on Monday sought to dispel what it said were false social media reports that Israel used the pier in a hostage rescue mission on Saturday. The U.N. said it would review security before resuming aid deliveries from the dock.

The U.N. has not yet resumed transportation of the aid from the pier to U.N. World Food Programme warehouses. WFP chief Cindy McCain said on Sunday that those warehouses were struck on Saturday and one person injured.

Aid began arriving via the U.S.-built pier on May 17, and the U.N. said it transported 137 trucks of aid to warehouses, some 900 metric tons, before the U.S. announced on May 28 that it had suspended operations so repairs could be made.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced in March the plan to put the pier in place for aid deliveries as famine loomed in Gaza, a Hamas-run enclave of 2.3 million people, during the war between Israel and the Palestinian militants.



(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)