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BREAKING
Occupied Palestine: Five members of the IOF wounded in clashes that took place in Rafah on Wednesday
Israeli media outlet: Netanyahu and Katz are expected to conduct a security assessment soon, and a wave of attacks in Gaza is anticipated later
Israeli media outlet: Gunmen emerged from a tunnel in Rafah and attacked forces in the area with gunfire and anti-tank missiles
Local sources from Damascus countryside: An Israeli occupation drone targeted the road connecting the town of Beit Jinn and Tell Bat al-Warda with 3 airstrikes, without any reported casualties
Al Mayadeen's Beirut Bureau chief: Addition of non-military envoy was agreed upon to pursue non-technical matters.
Al Mayadeen's Beirut Bureau Chief: Lebanese Presidency's statement affirms Lebanon's readiness to attend talks in an effective capacity.
Lebanese Presidency: President has assigned former Ambassador Simon Karam to head military technical committee in talks.
Israeli occupation forces carry out an arrest campaign during a raid on Surif, north of Al-Khalil in the southern occupied West Bank.
Syrian Foreign Ministry: Damascus expresses its gratitude to the countries that voted in the UN General Assembly in favor of ending the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan.
Ushakov: Russia and the United States agreed not to disclose the substance of the Putin–Witkoff talks.

Hamas says US pier no substitute for Rafah crossing for entry of aid

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 17 May 2024 23:24
5 Min Read

Hamas and the Gaza media office underline that the US pier allegedly built to provide aid to the war-stricken blockaded strip will not suffice as a substitute for Rafah.

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  • The image provided by U.S, Central Command, shows US Army soldiers, US Navy sailors, and Israeli occupation dorces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza Strip on Thursday, May 16, 2024
    The image provided by U.S, Central Command, shows US Army soldiers, US Navy sailors, and Israeli occupation forces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, May 16, 2024

Hamas emphasized Friday that any way to bring in aid, including the American pier, is no substitute for opening all land crossings under Palestinian supervision.

In a statement, the movement emphasized its rejection of any military presence of any force in the Palestinian territories, stressing the right of the Palestinian people to receive all the aid they need in light of the catastrophe created by the occupation.

The government media office in Gaza, meanwhile, stressed that the US administration was trying to whitewash its brutality by establishing a pier off the coast of Gaza City.

The media office issued a statement questioning the intentions of the US administration, which is working to manage the genocidal war and form a protective barrier for "Israel."

The statement underlined that the pier does not cover the Palestinian people's need for food, and that what it will provide "will not end the famine."

The statement also demanded the immediate opening of land crossings, questioning the practice of using patchwork and partial solutions while circumventing real ones.

The statement emphasized that land crossings were the most feasible and effective way to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip and demanded the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Rafah crossing in light of the increasingly tragic humanitarian disaster.

It concluded by underlining that the food insecurity crisis was worsening in the central and southern governorates, especially with the displacement of tens of thousands of people from Rafah as a result of the Israeli invasion of the city.

The US military said aid deliveries began Friday via the pier it alleges is for humanitarian purposes.

"Today at approximately 9 am (0600 GMT), trucks carrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore via a temporary pier in Gaza," the US Central Command said in a statement, adding that no US troops went ashore.

"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," it claimed.

The Pentagon announced on May 8 that the construction of the Gaza offshore pier by the US military has been completed. However, due to weather conditions, it is currently deemed unsafe to relocate the two-part facility.

"As of today, the construction of the two portions of the JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore) – the floating pier and the Trident pier – are complete and awaiting final movement offshore," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a press conference.

Read more: PFLP warns of suspicious US plan for Gaza pier

"Today there are still forecasted high winds and high sea swells, which are causing unsafe conditions for the JLOTS components to be moved. So the pier sections and military vessels involved in its construction are still positioned at the port of Ashdod," Singh added.

US Central Command CENTCOM "stands by to move the pier into position in the near future."

The vessels and the under-construction pier were moved to an Israeli port due to bad weather last week. Once the weather clears, it will be anchored to the Gaza shore by Israeli soldiers to keep US troops off the ground.

IOF to anchor pier to Gaza shore once weather improves

Last week, adverse weather conditions necessitated the relocation of the vessels and the pier under construction to Ashdod Port. Israeli occupation soldiers will anchor the pier to the Gaza shore once the weather improves to keep US soldiers off Gaza ground.

The facility will consist of an offshore platform for the transfer of aid from larger to smaller vessels and a pier to bring it ashore.

The Israeli occupation has been imposing a siege on Gaza since last October. Food, medicine, fuel, and water, among other basic necessities, were fully blocked from entering the Strip by the occupation, which only allowed insufficient portions to be delivered to the 2.2 million population later following massive global pressure.

Read more: UN experts warn US Gaza aid pier to facilitate Rafah invasion

The World Food Program (WFP) sounded the alarm earlier this week that Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip are experiencing "full-blown famine," warning that the famine is moving south. The statement came before the occupation shut down the Karem Abu Salem crossing in southern Gaza, and later the Rafah crossing after invading the city sheltering over 1.4 million people late Tuesday.

Plans for the piers were first announced by US President Joe Biden in early March as the Israeli occupation forces held up much-needed aid deliveries by ground.

US officials claimed the process would not involve "boots on the ground" in Gaza, but American troops would come close to the besieged territory as they construct the pier.

  • Gaza
  • Syria
  • Israel
  • Israeli occupation
  • Palestine
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