New routes planned for halted Gaza aid from US-built pier

The United Nations has planned new routes within the Gaza Strip to transport aid from a US-built floating pier after crowds of desperate Palstinians intercepted 11 trucks, causing a halt to deliveries that continued for a third day on Tuesday.

The temporary pier was anchored to a Gaza beach last Thursday 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.

Operations began on Friday and 10 aid trucks were driven by UN contractors to a World Food Program warehouse in Deir El Balah in Gaza. But on Saturday, only five trucks made it to the warehouse after 11 others were intercepted.

"Crowds had stopped the trucks at various points along the way. There was … what I think I would refer to as self-distribution," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric...