A US-built jetty has been set up to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea, but no one will know if the new route will work until a steady stream of supplies starts reaching the starving Palestinians.
Trucks leaving the jetty project will face intense fighting, threats by Hamas to target any foreign forces and uncertainty over whether the Israeli military will ensure aid convoys have access and safety from attack by Israeli forces .
Even if the sea route performs as expected, the US, UN and aid officials warn, it will bring little of the aid the embattled enclave needs.
U.S. military officials hope to start with about 90 aid trucks a day by sea, quickly increasing to about 150 trucks a day.
Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other aid officials have consistently said Gaza needs more than 500 truckloads of supplies a day — the pre-war average — to help its struggling population. without enough food or clean water during the seven months of war between Israel and Hamas.
