First convoy of aid trucks cross into Gaza via newly-opened floating pier (2024)

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across the new floating pier – named Trident Pier – and into the besieged enclave for the first time on Friday, as Israel's restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered the delivery of food and other supplies.

The shipment is the first in an operation that U.S. military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day. At the White House, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said "more than 300 pallets" of aid were in the initial delivery and handed over to the UN, which was preparing it for distribution.

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Kirby said the U.S. has gotten indications that "some of that aid was already moving into Gaza."

But the U.S., UN and aid groups warn that the floating pier project is not a substitute for land deliveries that could bring in all the food, water and fuel needed in Gaza. Before the war, more than 500 truckloads entered the Palestinian territory on an average day.

The operation's success also remains tenuous because of the risk of militant attack, logistical hurdles and a growing shortage of fuel for the aid trucks due to the Israeli blockade of Gaza since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

The Pentagon, however, said no backups were expected in the distribution process. The U.S. plan is for the UN, through the World Food Programme, to take charge of the aid once it leaves the pier. This will involve coordinating the arrival of empty trucks and their registration, overseeing the transfer of goods coming through the floating dock to the trucks and their dispatch to warehouses across Gaza, and, finally, handing over the supplies to aid groups for delivery.

The WFP said Friday evening that aid that had come through the pier had been transported to its warehouses in Deir al-Balah and was ready for collection and distribution.

The U.K. said some of its aid for Gaza was in the first shipment that went ashore, including the first of 8,400 kits to provide temporary shelter made of plastic sheeting. And it said more aid, including 2,000 additional shelter kits, 900 tents, five forklift trucks and 9,200 hygiene kits, will follow in the coming weeks.

"This is the culmination of a Herculean joint international effort," said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. "We know the maritime route is not the only answer. We need to see more land routes open, including via the Rafah crossing, to ensure much more aid gets safely to civilians in desperate need of help."

The UN humanitarian aid coordinating agency said the start of the operation was welcome, but not a replacement for deliveries by land.

"I think everyone in the operation has said it: Any and all aid into Gaza is welcome by any route," Jens Laerke, spokesman of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told journalists in Geneva on Friday. Getting aid to people in Gaza "cannot and should not depend on a floating dock far from where needs are most acute."

The boatloads of aid will be deposited at a port facility built by Israel just southwest of Gaza City. The U.S. has closely coordinated with Israel on how to protect the ships and personnel working on the beach.

Pentagon officials have made it clear that security conditions will be monitored closely and could prompt a shutdown of the maritime route, even if just temporarily. Already, the site has been targeted by mortar fire during its construction, and Hamas has threatened to target any foreign forces who "occupy" the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces are in charge of security on shore, but there are also two U.S. Navy warships nearby that can protect U.S. troops and others.