Watch as aid arrives in Gaza via US-built floating pier

Watch as aid arrives in Gaza via a US-built floating pier on Sunday 19 May.

Deliveries began arriving at the pier off the Gaza Strip on Friday as Israel comes under growing global pressure to allow more supplies into the besieged coastal enclave, where it is at war with Palestinian militants Hamas and a famine looms.

The temporary floating pier was pre-assembled at the Israeli port of Ashdod and moved into place last week on the shore of Gaza, which lacks port infrastructure of its own.

No US troops went ashore, the Pentagon’s Central Command said.

After months of discussions, the United Nations has agreed to assist in coordinating aid deliveries and distribution at the floating dock under the condition the operation “respects the neutrality and independence of humanitarian operations”.

The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza accused Washington of “trying to improve its ugly image” with the pier.

Hamas said the US pier wasn’t enough to meet the humanitarian needs and demanded greater aid shipments to the enclave by land.