Gaza aid pier 50% complete — Pentagon

WASHINGTON, United States — The temporary pier being constructed by the US military to increase humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza is more than halfway complete, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

The start of construction was announced on April 25, and US officials say the pier will be operational sometime early this month.

"As of today, we are over 50% complete on setting up the pier," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists.

Plans for the pier -- which the Pentagon said earlier this week will cost at least $320 million -- were first announced by US President Joe Biden in early March as Israel held up deliveries of assistance by ground.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza -- which has been devastated by more than six months of Israeli operations against Hamas -- remains dire, with a senior US administration official saying last week that the territory's entire population of 2.2 million people is facing food insecurity.

Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,568 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.