Cyprus says aid held off Gaza coast after pier damage

Cyprus on Thursday said humanitarian aid shipped to war-torn Gaza was being kept afloat off the Palestinian territory's coast after a US-built pier was damaged by bad weather.

"No aid was sent today, but the one (shipment) that left two days ago is now being stored using a floating mechanism until the dock is fully repaired," said government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis.

The US military said on Tuesday that it had suspended aid deliveries via the pier after high seas and a North African weather system caused a section of the floating platform to break away.

The project to construct the temporary pier was announced by US President Joe Biden in March to alleviate restrictions imposed by Israel on aid deliveries by land to Gaza.

Letymbiotis said the United States had told Cyprus that "within the next few days, possibly in the middle of next week, the pier would be able to handle humanitarian cargo again."

"The transfer of humanitarian aid and its storage have not stopped in any degree," he said, adding aid would continue to leave the eastern Mediterranean island for the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,224 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The US military said 1,005 tonnes of aid had been delivered from the sea to the beach transfer point as of Friday, with 903 tonnes distributed from the transfer point to the UN warehouse.