WFP pauses Gaza aid distribution via US pier after Nuseirat massacre
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WFP director Cindy McCain says two of the Programme's warehouses in Gaza were struck by rockets, injuring a staff member.
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This image provided by the US Army shows trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates and the United States Agency for International Development crossing the Trident Pier before arriving on the beach in the Gaza Strip, on May 17, 2024. (US Army via AP)
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has "paused" humanitarian aid distribution from the American-built pier off Gaza, its director announced on Sunday, citing concerns for staff safety following the Nuseirat massacre.
Cindy McCain revealed that two WFP warehouses in Gaza were struck by rockets on Saturday, injuring a staff member. This day coincided with a massacre, which resulted in the killing of 274 Palestinians, carried out by Israeli occupation forces to retrieve four captives who were held by the Palestinian Resistance in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The announcement comes to add to the suffering of Gaza’s starving population as "Israel" continues to block much-needed aid to the Strip.
Completed in mid-May, the pier was operational for only a week before storm damage rendered it inactive for a couple of weeks. It resumed operations on Saturday before McCain announced the pause.
"Right now we’re paused," McCain told CBS, expressing concern "about the safety of our people after the incident yesterday" without elaborating.
"Two of our warehouses, the warehouse complex were rocketed yesterday," the WFP director added.
Saturday’s pier reopening, which coincided with the Israeli massacre in Nuseirat, prompted the US Central Command (CENTCOM) to claim that the pier – "including its equipment, personnel, and assets" – had no role in the Israeli attack.
It added that "an area south of the facility was used by the Israelis" to return the captives to "Israel".
Israeli and US sources have told The New York Times that the US provided intelligence on the Israeli captives retrieved from Gaza on Saturday.
Read more: 50+ children suffering from malnutrition, starvation in North Gaza
