Gaza aid pier dismantled again due to weather, reinstallation date unknown

The pier built by the U.S. military to bring aid to Gaza has been removed due to weather, and the Pentagon is considering not re-installing it unless the aid begins flowing out into the population again, U.S. officials said Friday.

While the U.S. military has helped deliver desperately needed food through the pier, the vast majority of it is still sitting in an adjacent storage yard and that area is almost full. Aid agencies have had difficulty moving the food to areas further into Gaza where it is most needed because humanitarian convoys have come under attack.

The U.N., which has the widest reach in delivering aid to starving Palestinians, hasn't been distributing food and other emergency supplies arriving through the pier since June 9. The pause came after the Israeli military used an area near the pier to fly out hostages after their rescue in a raid that killed more than 270 Palestinians, prompting a U.N. security review over concerns that aid workers' safety and neutrality may be compromised.