On Saturday, close to three-fourths of the humanitarian aid from a newly constructed $320 million floating pier by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast was stolen en route to a U.N. warehouse.
Eleven out of sixteen trucks carrying the aid were intercepted by Palestinians, leaving only five trucks to reach the World Food Program warehouse in Deir El Balah.
This incident marked a significant loss, with a U.N. official commenting on the desperate situation as locals took food parcels directly from the trucks.
The United Nations reported no aid deliveries from the U.S. military’s pier on Sunday and Monday, although ten truckloads of food aid had successfully reached the warehouse on Friday, managed by U.N. contractors.
Concerns about security and logistics were highlighted as necessary steps before resuming further deliveries.
The Israeli estimates suggested that Hamas has been seizing up to 60% of the aid entering Gaza, profiting significantly from the humanitarian assistance since the conflict began on October 7.
The floating pier, constructed at the Israeli port of Ashdod and moved to Gaza, saw 1,000 U.S. personnel involved in its setup without any American troops landing ashore.
Only 30-35% of Hamas terrorists have been eliminated since October 7
The Israel Defense Ministry reported that hundreds of pallets of aid and over 160,000 liters of fuel had entered through the pier.
The goal is to increase the flow to 150 trucks per day, with CENTCOM noting that 569 metric tons of aid had been offloaded so far.
However, aid efforts were hindered by the closed Rafah crossing at the Egypt-Gaza border, with diplomatic efforts ongoing to resolve the impasse and avert a humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, commercial trade resumed between Israel and Gaza, with produce shipments intended for both Hamas members and the civilian population.
