The US Central Command said trucks carrying humanitarian
assistance began moving ashore 0600 GMT.
The floating pier was pre-assembled by the US military at
the Israeli port of Ashdod and moved into place this week on the shore of Gaza,
which lacks port infrastructure of its own, however no US troops went ashore,
Centcom said.
Aid arriving at the pier would be part of "an ongoing,
multinational effort" and would involve commodities donated by a number of
countries and humanitarian organisations, it said.
The supplies will be subject to Israeli security checks in
Cyprus before arriving but will have to pass through additional Israeli
checkpoints once it lands, US administration officials have said.
Aid groups, the United Nations and Israel's closest allies,
have all demanded that it do more to get aid into Gaza, which has been largely
laid to waste by the Israeli
campaign launched last year.
A new wave of upheaval has created additional need, as
hundreds of thousands of people already displaced by the war and sheltering in
the southern Gaza city of Rafah have evacuated to areas in central Gaza in anticipation of an
Israeli assault.
Israel has said it is stepping up efforts to get aid into
Gaza, and the military said 365 aid trucks had entered through the Kerem Shalom
and Erez crossing points on Thursday, carrying flour and fuel.
In addition, hundreds of tents were delivered, intended for
people evacuated from Rafah to the Al-Mawasi area, which Israel has declared a
humanitarian zone.
"The IDF will continue its efforts to allow
humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip by land, air, and sea, in accordance
with international law," it said in a statement.
The Israeli military said new inspection routes had been
opened up in the occupied West Bank through the Tarqumiyah and Beitunia
crossing points.
However, supplies coming through the West Bank have been
disrupted by attacks carried out by Israeli settlers protesting
against sending aid into Gaza.
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