None of the aid discharged from temporary pier built by the United States off the coast of Gaza has been delivered to the entire Palestinian population, as the United States works with the United Nations and Israel to identify safe delivery routes inside the enclave, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Several desperate Gazans intercepted trucks delivering aid from the dock over the weekend, leading the UN to suspend delivery operations until logistical problems were resolved.
The United States is working with Israel and the United Nations to establish “alternative routes” for the safe delivery of the 569 tons of aid transported to Gaza since last week, Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday. Major General Pat Ryder.
When asked if any of the aid had been delivered to the people of Gaza, Ryder replied: “To this day I don’t believe so.” He added that the aid had been kept in a staging area on land, but since Tuesday it had begun to be moved to warehouses for distribution throughout Gaza as alternative routes were established.
A US official told CNN that the Defense Department and the UN are still working to determine how much aid can be kept in the transit zone inside Gaza at any given time.
The amount of aid arriving on the Gaza coast from its initial transit zone in Cyprus is also lower than the Pentagon’s initial estimates.
Since Friday, more than 569 tons of humanitarian aid have been delivered via the temporary dock, called JLOTS, or Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, to the Gaza coast for distribution by humanitarian partners, Ryder said. But Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said last week that the United States initially hoped to transport 500 tons of aid per day through the pier, increasing over time.
Over the weekend, as trucks began transporting aid delivered from the floating jetty, CNN reported that a group of men in Gaza intercepted the aid, saying they were unsure that it is truly intended for the Palestinian people.
“I have doubts,” Gaza resident Mounir Ayad told CNN near the pier. “I don’t understand this floating pier and what it says and what its purpose is. They say it’s for help, but people are worried. Is this help or something else? We know that the United States has never supported the Palestinian cause, so it is unlikely that they would provide us with aid for nothing in return.”
Ryder acknowledged Tuesday that some of the initial aid delivered to Gaza had been “intercepted by some people who removed that aid from those vehicles.”
“Fully understanding the desperation, but also fully understanding the fact that it’s very important that this help gets to those who need it most, that’s going to continue to be our priority.” So I understand, you know, the focus on why this isn’t working, or why this isn’t working, but what we’re focused on is how we can work to ensure that the Palestinian people receive the aid .
The Pentagon said in April that the aim was to deliver around 500 tonnes of aid – or 90 trucks – per day to Gaza’s starving population, with the intention of running up to 150 trucks per day. The pier was finally anchored in Gaza last week as the humanitarian situation in the enclave has only worsened.
Sonali Korde, assistant administrator for the Office of Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development, said last week that conditions in Gaza “have not improved and over the past two weeks, we have seen a vital border post closed, and at a time when it is essential that more help is provided. Across the Gaza Strip, 2.2 million people, the entire population, face acute food insecurity.
The United States was confronted a number of challenges with the pier, including planning around Israeli operations in Rafah which could raise security concerns; early problems over who would transport the aid from the pier to Gaza, with the United States repeatedly declaring that no U.S. troops would be on the ground; and logistical challenges such as maritime and weather conditions which could continue to limit the capacity of its use.
Ryder said Tuesday that the United States continues to push for aid to be delivered by other means, including by land. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin continues to have conversations with his Israeli counterpart regarding efforts to deliver aid through land crossings, including through Rafah, he said.
When White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Israeli officials as part of his trip to the Middle East this weekend, the Israelis presented their latest thoughts on a potential incursion into Rafah, during which the American side asked a lot of “difficult questions”. according to a senior administration official. This person noted that both sides would continue these discussions, but that the Israelis had incorporated U.S. comments and concerns while continuing to implement these plans. The official added that both sides share the common goal of destroying Hamas.
As part of the discussions with the Israelis, U.S. officials also made a series of “specific requests” for humanitarian assistance, which they agreed to implement, according to the official.
One of those demands included making aid distribution easier by forcing the Israelis to agree that aid scanned in Cyprus would be sent directly to the Israeli port of Ashdod, bypassing Egypt. Currently, goods that are not transported to Gaza via the jetty must pass through Egypt to be scanned before then being brought into the enclave.
“I thought the conversations were pretty constructive and now we’re waiting to see some of what was agreed to play out here in the coming days,” the official said.
On Tuesday alone, according to this person, more than 370 pallets of aid were distributed in Gaza.
The United States has also carried out a number of airdrops of humanitarian aid to Gaza in partnership with the Royal Jordanian Air Force. It is unclear with what regularity this will continue; Ryder said Tuesday that it’s an “option we have,” but he declined to say whether the effort would continue “into the future.”
The last humanitarian airdrop announced by US Central Command took place on May 9.
“This is not an exclusive U.S. military effort, but an interagency effort. This is an international effort. And we understand the desperate need of the Palestinian people right now,” Ryder said of efforts to deliver aid to Gaza. “And we’re going to continue to work to provide them with what they need.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Sam Fossum, Kayla Tausche and MJ Lee contributed to this report.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com
