The US military has verified that the initial aid shipment, via a temporary pier near Gaza, has successfully reached land.
According to US Central Command’s announcement on X, the aid trucks commenced their offloading process at approximately 0900 local time (0700 BST).
“This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature,” the post read, adding that no US troops went ashore.
The US initiated the construction of the floating base several weeks ago to facilitate aid delivery to Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign against Hamas.
Reports on Wednesday indicated that hundreds of tonnes of aid had arrived in Cyprus for screening before being loaded onto ships destined for the pier.
Vice Adm Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, stated that commercial vessels would collect pallets from Cyprus and transport them to a floating platform anchored several kilometers off the coast of Gaza.
Following this, smaller US military vessels, capable of carrying between five and 15 lorries of aid, will transport it to a floating pier, extending several hundred meters, affixed to the Gaza beach.
The lorries will then proceed along the pier to unload the aid at a marshalling yard on the beach.
Authorities have specified that the UN, primarily through the World Food Programme, will oversee the distribution of aid thereafter.