by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News April 25, 2024
A U.S.-led construction effort to build a pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza was attacked by terrorists on Wednesday, Israel’s military said.
The mortar attack occurred as United Nations officials were touring the site with Israeli troops on the coast of central Gaza, the IDF said.
The IDF said the UN officials were rushed to a shelter by troops amid the attack.
UN officials confirmed the mortar attack to the Associated Press, saying there were no injuries.
“The terrorist organizations continue to systematically harm humanitarian efforts while risking the lives of UN workers, while Israel allows the supply of aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement.
The U.S. is spearheading construction of the pier to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza.
No group has claimed responsibility for the mortar fire, but a Hamas official told AP on Wednesday that the terror group will resist any foreign military presence involved with the port project.
Satellite photos taken by Planet Labs PBC show that heavy construction at the site started over two weeks ago. The area sits just north of a road bisecting Gaza that the Israeli military built during the fighting.
A UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP the port “is directly at the end of the new road the IDF has put in place.”
The port will likely have three zones — one controlled by the Israelis where aid from the pier is dropped off, another where the aid will be transferred, and a third where Palestinian drivers contracted by the UN will wait to pick up the aid before bringing it to distribution points, the UN official said.