Aid begins to arrive in Gaza via US-built pier

Aid deliveries have begun arriving at a US-built pier off the Gaza Strip 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 on Thursday on the shore of Gaza, which lacks port infrastructure of its own. But no US troops went ashore, said the US Central Command.

"This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians … and will involve aid commodities donated by a number of countries and humanitarian organizations," the US Central Command said in a statement.

After months of discussions, the United Nations has now "agreed to support in receiving and arranging for the dispatch of aid into Gaza from the...