Aid still sailing from Cyprus to Gaza even as US pier awaits fix — official

Humanitarian aid for Gaza is continuing to depart Cyprus by sea and will be held in floating storage off the coast of the enclave until a US-built military pier is repaired, a Cypriot government official says.

Cyprus Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis says the offloading of aid has slowed down, but the sea corridor has not ceased operating since part of the pier broke off over the weekend.

“The mechanism surrounding how the floating pier works allows for the possibility of floating storage off Gaza, with offloading to resume when conditions allow,” he says, blaming the problem on rough seas.

Letymbiotis says the the pier could “possibly” resume operations by the middle of next week.

Eleven ship-shuttles of aid had left Cyprus since the operation started, with enough aid already disbursed to “provide food to tens of thousands of noncombatants for a month,” Letymbiotis claims.

“The aim of offering humanitarian aid to 500,000 people a month is possible,” he adds.