Gaza aid through U.S. pier will resume in coming days, Israel says

[June 08, 2024]  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Humanitarian aid entering Gaza by sea via a U.S.- built pier will resume in the coming days, the Israeli military said on Saturday, after repairs to the structure were completed.  

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has begun securing the coastal area of the U.S. military's Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) capability - in Gaza. The pier's re-establishment will allow for the continued delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza in the coming days," the Israeli military said.

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/File Photo

The U.S. Central Command said on Friday it had re-established the temporary pier anchored off Gaza's coast, which had been temporarily removed after part of the structure broke off, two weeks after it started operating.

The aid is meant to alleviate a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza which has been unfolding in the eight months since Israel launched an offensive in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks that killed 1,200 people in Israel.

More than 36,000 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, since the start of the Israeli offensive, which has laid to waste much of the enclave and displaced most the population.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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