Jetty ready

Gaza will soon be able to receive aid by sea

Help will soon be possible by sea.

(Bild: APA Pool/APA/AFP/US Central Command )

The US military has completed a temporary landing stage for aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip. Construction work on the floating jetty, which consists of two parts, has been completed, it was announced on Tuesday. However, the transfer to the coast will be delayed due to bad weather.

"Strong winds and high swells are forecast to continue today," explained Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh. Under these conditions, the transport is too "unsafe". Therefore, they are waiting for better weather in the port of the Israeli city of Ashdod. However, the US Regional Command Central Command is ready "to move the pier into position in the near future", Singh continued.

Aid coming soon by sea
The USA wants to bring urgently needed aid supplies for the population in the Gaza Strip to the coastal strip via a sea corridor in future. As the Gaza Strip itself has no port, the US military began building a temporary jetty in April. The costs are said to amount to at least 320 million dollars (around 297 million euros).

Aid by land hardly possible
Aid organizations have long criticized the fact that not enough humanitarian goods reach the Gaza Strip by land. The closure of the two border crossings Kerem Shalom and Rafah has further exacerbated the situation in recent days.

On Sunday, fighters from the radical Islamic group Hamas fired rockets at the Kerem Shalom border crossing on the border with Israel. The border crossing therefore remained closed until Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Israeli army also took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing on the border with Egypt.