UN WFP Faces Obstacles in Gaza Aid Delivery Through New U.S. Pier Project

The UN World Food Program's new $320 million pier project for delivering aid to Gaza faces challenges. Israel needs to provide safer conditions for the humanitarian effort, as the chaotic launch led to looting and a death. The WFP is reevaluating logistics with USAID for better delivery routes.

The UN World Food Program said Tuesday that the new U.S. $320 million pier project for delivering aid to Gaza may fail unless Israel starts providing the conditions the humanitarian groups need to operate safely, after a chaotic launch ended with much of the aid looted and one Palestinian man dead.

Deliveries from the pier were stopped Sunday after Saturday's aid convoy was unable to reach warehouses within Gaza as intended, the WFP said. The first 10 trucks had entered through the pier on Friday.

The U.N. agency is now reevaluating logistics and security measures and looking for alternate routes within Gaza, said spokesperson Abeer Etefa. The WFP is working with the U.S. Agency for International Development to coordinate delivery of food from the new U.S. route.