US confirms first aid trucks arrive via Gaza pier

The US military has confirmed that the first aid shipment via a temporary pier off Gaza has gone ashore.

US Central Command confirmed in a post on X that the aid trucks began moving ashore at about 0900 local time (0700 BST), BBC reports.

"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 began building the floating base weeks ago to facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza as Israel continues its military campaign against Hamas.

The announcement comes after it was reported on Wednesday, hundreds of tonnes of aid had arrived in Cyprus, where screening takes place before being loaded on to commercial ships for delivery to the pier.

After they've been delivered to the pier, smaller US military vessels - capable of carrying between five and 15 lorries of aid - will then transport it to a floating pier, several hundred metres long, fixed to the beach in Gaza.

The lorries will travel along the pier before dropping off the aid at a marshalling yard on the beach.

Authorities said that the UN, primarily the World Food Programme, will be responsible for the onward distribution of aid.

The announcement marks the opening of a new route for humanitarian aid to reach the stricken Gaza Strip.

About 2.2 million Palestinians are in need of food, shelter and other assistance.

Aid deliveries to the territory has slowed down since Israeli forces took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing last week.

Earlier this month, the key crossing of Kerem Shalom, was shut overnight by Israel who said four of their own soldiers were killed in a Hamas rocket attack near the crossing.