The United States intends to remove the aid dock for Gaza, but may not return it to its place

Washington (AP) – Pier built by the US Army A humanitarian aid corridor into Gaza has been removed due to bad weather to protect it, and the United States is considering not reinstalling it unless aid starts flowing to residents again, U.S. officials said Friday.

While the military has helped bring much-needed food across the pavement, the vast majority of it is still sitting in a nearby storage yard and that area is almost full. Aid agencies are struggling to move food further inside Gaza where it is most needed because humanitarian convoys have come under attack.

The United Nations, which has the widest reach in delivering aid to hungry Palestinians, has not distributed food and other emergency supplies arriving via the dock since June 9. The stop came after the Israeli army used an area near the pier to evacuate the hostages after rescuing them in a raid launched by Israel on Gaza. More than 270 Palestinians were killedThis prompted the United Nations to conduct a security review due to concerns that the safety and neutrality of aid workers was at risk.

Steve Taravella, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Programme, said on Friday that the United Nations’ involvement in the pier project remained on hold pending resolution of security concerns.

While the project was always meant to be temporary and was never promoted as a complete solution to the problems of getting humanitarian aid into Gaza, President Joe Biden’s $230 million project has faced a series of setbacks since the aid first arrived on shore on May 17, and has been criticized by aid groups and Republicans in Congress as a costly distraction.

The dock is used to bring more than 19.4 million pounds, or 8.6 million kilograms, of food into Gaza, but it has been hampered not only by the interruption of aid, but also by unpredictable weather. Rough seas destroyed the pier just days after its initial operations, forcing the Army to temporarily remove it for repairs and then reinstall it. On Friday, strong waves forced the army to remove it again and transport it to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Several U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military moves, said the military may reinstall the pier once the bad weather clears in the coming days, but a final decision on whether to reinstall it has not yet been made.

Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, acknowledged that she did not know when the pier would be reinstalled. “When the commander decides the time is right to reinstall this pier, we will provide you with the latest information,” she said.

She also said on Friday that more aid needed to enter Cyprus and be brought to the pier. She noted that the safe zone on the beach was “very close to being completed,” but the intention remained to get aid into Gaza by all means necessary. She said the United States was in discussions with aid agencies about food distribution.

But she added: “Of course, if there is not enough space in the organization’s arena, it does not make sense to put our men or women there when there is nothing to do.”

The Palestinians are facing widespread famine due to the fighting that has been ongoing for nearly nine months Israel-Hamas warIsraeli restrictions on border crossings, which are far more productive than the sea route, and attacks on aid convoys have severely limited the flow of food, medicine and other supplies.

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Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.