The UK Defence Secretary has praised the "Herculean effort" involved in erecting a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza, which will allow huge amounts of aid to reach the local population.
It follows confirmation from the US military that the first aid shipment has gone ashore across the floating structure.
The US Central Command confirmed that aid trucks began moving ashore at 9am local time today.
A statement confirmed: "This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature."
The US Central Command confirmed that aid trucks began moving ashore at 9am local time today
MOD
The US began building the pier, with UK military assistance, several weeks ago in response to the urgent need to find other viable routes where vital aid supplies can be sent into the embattled enclave.
The floating pier was pre-assembled by US personnel at the Israeli port of Ashdod and moved into place this week off the Gazan shore, which lacks port infrastructure of its own.
The British naval support ship RFA Cardigan Bay provided assistance and accommodation to hundreds of US service personnel involved in the pier's construction.
Responding to the confirmation that the first aid supplies had now gone ashore via the new pier, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: "The newly operational pier off the coast of Gaza will enable truckloads of humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in dire need.
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The first shipment is expected to provide enough provisions to feed 11,000 people for a month
MOD
"The UK continues to play a key role in this herculean international effort - supporting logistics coordination in Cyprus, deploying RFA Cardigan Bay to help US personnel constructing and operating the pier and providing UK aid for delivery.
"We expect the first shipment to provide enough provisions to feed 11,000 people for a month."
The aid supplies will be subject to Israeli security checks at the British base in Cyprus before arriving and will have to pass through additional Israeli checkpoints once it lands.
Aid groups, the United Nations and Israel's closest allies have all demanded that the Israeli government do more to get aid into Gaza, following many months of sustained military action which has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the strip.
Aid groups, the United Nations and Israel's closest allies have all demanded that the Israeli government do more to get aid into Gaza
MOD
A new wave of upheaval has created additional need, as hundreds of thousands of people already displaced by the war and sheltering in the southern Gaza city of Rafah have evacuated to areas in central Gaza in anticipation on an Israeli assault.
