U.S. military says aid is now being delivered into Gaza over a floating pier

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NPR/AP

May 17, 2024 3:45 AM ET



The image provided by U.S, Central Command, shows U.S. Army soldiers, U.S. Navy sailors and Israel Defense Forces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza Strip on Thursday.
AP


WASHINGTON — Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built U.S. floating pier into the besieged enclave for the first time Friday as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hinder food and other supplies reaching people there.

The shipment is the first in an operation that American military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day entering the Gaza Strip as Israel presses in on the southern city of Rafah as its 7-month offensive against Hamas rages on.

But the U.S. and aid groups also warn that the pier project is not considered 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 Gaza on an average day.

The operation's success also remains tenuous due to the risk of militant attack, logistical hurdles and a growing shortage of fuel for the trucks to run due to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel's offensive since then has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, local health officials say, while hundreds more have been killed in the West Bank.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2024/05/17/1252013355/aid-gaza-floating-pier

[Rincewind]

1. Any bets on how long

before Hamas attacks it for...........reasons?

[AloeVera]

2. "Logistical hurdles, shortage of fuel"

I hope Israel is working on resolving those issues as mandated under international law. Kind of hard to deliver aid without a humanitarian corridor on functioning roads using trucks with fuel and un-destroyed aid warehouses. Not to mention without the help of the largest aid agency with the necessary infrastructure to actually deliver aid - because it has been blocked from entering the north and largely defunded.

The simplest, cheapest, most effective way to deliver aid is through the crossings via land routes. As long as those mechanisms remain knee-capped and hampered, obstructed and slowed down, the starvation and suffering will continue. With or without the pier.

This would be a very bad dystopian movie but this is real life for those people trapped in that hellzone.

[et tu]

3. it's a start

horrifics on both sides need to stop

[peppertree]

4. Keep an eye on the Bibster

He might have it bombed just to embarrass Biden (and they're very good at false flag attacks).

[Takket]

5. Glad they were able to overcome Hamas's effort to stop us from helping Gaza