WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States aims to have a floating pier in place off the Gaza Strip coast in the coming days to boost aid deliveries but Washington is facing the same challenges that have beset the United Nations and relief groups for months when it comes to distributing assistance to the war-torn enclave.
These include working in a war zone to stave off a looming famine and a dire shortage of fuel for aid trucks. The UN also has yet to finalise its involvement in the distribution of aid once it comes off the pier.
"Once you get food or supplies into the Gaza Strip, whether it's from the pier or crossing points, there is no security and ... there's no fuel," said Bob Kitchen, the International Rescue Committee's vice president for emergencies.
President Joe Biden announced the pier in March as aid officials implored Israel to improve access for relief supplies into Gaza over land routes. By opening a route to deliver aid by sea, the US hopes to combat the humanitarian crisis that has put hundreds of thousands of people at risk of famine.
The project has been expensive and slow.
Bad weather has delayed the pier that is estimated to cost US$320 million and involve 1,000 US troops. The UN has been adamant that maritime access was no substitute for land, which needed to remain the focus of aid operations in Gaza.
The UN and aid groups have long complained of the dangers and obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza.
The UN has so far lost 191 staff - including its first foreign staff member on Monday (May 13) - during the more than seven-month-long war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the coastal enclave of 2.3 million people.
"The first few days of any operation like this, there will be a lot of trial and error," said a UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"And we just hope that this trial and error doesn't end up in someone getting killed."
Israel is retaliating against Hamas over an Oct 7 attack in which Israel says militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage. Gaza health authorities say Israel has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza since then.
Top UN officials and aid groups accuse Israel of impeding aid deliveries into and within Gaza, but Israel denies that it has constrained aid operations and instead blames the UN for any problems.
A COMPLEX PATH FOR AID
Aid deliveries via the maritime corridor are already on the way. A British shipment of nearly 100 tonnes of aid left Cyprus on Wednesday, while a US-flagged vessel left Cyprus last week.
US officials have said the pier would initially handle 90 trucks a day, but that number could go to 150 trucks.
The UN has said 500 trucks a day are needed to enter Gaza. In April, it said the highest volume of humanitarian and commercial supplies that have entered Gaza since the war started has been an average of 189 trucks a day.
But aid access has dwindled since Israel began a military operation in Gaza's southern Rafah region.
A severe fuel shortage in Gaza has forced the UN to ration diesel and warn that aid operations could be shut down.
A US official and a source with knowledge said, on condition of anonymity, that there was enough fuel on hand for the UN to begin the pier operation.
The Israeli military, the source said, agreed to make sufficient supplies available for the operation "on a regular, predictable" basis.
Once on land, the US-delivered aid will follow a challenging, and still uncertain, path to reach Gaza civilians.
The plans announced by Biden in March called for aid to be shipped from Cyprus, where Israel will first inspect the cargoes. US troops will not step ashore.
Instead, according to US and UN officials, a third party will collect the aid from the pier, drive it a short distance and then offload it for UN collection. The UN official said another third party - contracted by the UN - will load the aid onto trucks and take it to distribution points across Gaza.
The UN official said there is a plan for UN staff to be stationed near the pier to oversee and direct aid trucks to distribution points throughout Gaza, but that it has not yet been approved by the UN Department of Safety and Security.
A UN team visiting the pier site late last month had to shelter in a bunker after the area came under fire. The UN has been concerned about ensuring neutrality by remaining an appropriate distance from the Israeli military, which will provide security and logistics support for the pier.
The UN official said "at no point" will there be any contact between the Israeli military and UN staff.
When asked about the talks between the US and the UN on the delivery of aid from the pier, deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haz said on Wednesday: "The discussions are ongoing."