US resumes aid deliveries by ship after storm damage

The building was repaired in the nearby Israeli port of Ashdod.

No U.S. military forces went ashore in the Gaza Strip for the project, the military said in a statement, adding that the effort was “entirely humanitarian in nature.” The regional command earlier denied rumors on social media that the ship was used by Israeli special forces to rescue four hostages from the Gaza Strip.

Under the temporary arrangement, cargo ships are initially intended to bring aid supplies from Cyprus to a floating base a few kilometers off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Goods are loaded onto small vessels that can sail close to the coast. These are then docked at a temporary pier attached to the beach.
Deliveries are received there by aid agencies and distributed by truck throughout the Gaza Strip. The $320 million ship has only been in use for a short time. It is designed to serve 500,000 of the roughly 1.6 million people living in the largely sealed Palestinian territory.

This message was sent on June 9, 2024 in the Deutschlandfunk program.