ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR The Latest | US is removing aid pier from Gaza coast again due to weather, officials say

 

The U.S.-built aid pier will be detached from Gaza’s coast for a second time due to rough seas, two U.S. officials said Friday, raising further questions about the viability of the sea route.

Palestinians are facing widespread hunger because the war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies. U.N. agencies say over 1 million in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July.

The military would move the pier late Friday and into Saturday to prevent it from breaking apart as it did late last month in bad weather, the two officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military planning. The officials expect the pier will be back in place and operating again by next week.

The $230 million project has been beset by security, logistical and other problems since aid first rolled ashore May 17.

Although aid has been unloaded in a secure area onshore for several days, humanitarian agencies have stopped picking up and distributing it throughout Gaza. The U.N. is weighing whether it can safely and ethically keep delivering supplies from the pier, after Israeli forces used the area near the pier to evacuate hostages and a wounded commando, according to the U.S. and Israeli militaries, during last week’s operation that killed more than 270 Palestinians.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday he doesn’t expect to seal a Gaza cease-fire deal in the near future, as an American-backed proposal with global support has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 37,100 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Israel launched the war after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war