Discussions about UN's Gaza maritime corridor participation 'ongoing': Official

WASHINGTON

A UN spokesman said Thursday that a discussion is "ongoing” about the UN participation in a maritime corridor to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.

"I can tell you that at the moment any decision regarding the UN participation in the maritime corridor needs to be fully agreed on with the humanitarian agencies operating in Gaza under conditions that would meet our bedrock of conditions which is principled, safe, sustained, and impartial humanitarian distribution, and scaled up assistance to reach as many people in need," Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

His remarks were in response to being asked about reports that the Biden administration has reached out to the UN to help distribute aid from a US military-built pier to civilians in Gaza.

"Yes, we've seen these reports," Dujarric said. "While discussions are ongoing, there's nothing more I can share with you at this point."

The Pentagon announced in March that it would undertake an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier on the Gazan coast to deliver up to 2 million humanitarian aid meals per day.

The mission has a goal of beginning delivery operations in approximately 60 days.

It includes a floating pier -- an 1,800-foot-long causeway that will be attached to the shore, and a group of logistic support vessels and barges that will transport the aid from the pier to the causeway, according to the Pentagon.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack in early October, led by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,577 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.