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