CENTCOM: Heavy Seas Batter US Gaza Maritime Aid Mission

Drone view of the scene where vessels, used for delivering aid to Palestinians via a new US-built pier in Gaza, got stuck after they ran aground, on the Mediterranean coast in Ashdod, Israel May 25, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Drone view of the scene where vessels, used for delivering aid to Palestinians via a new US-built pier in Gaza, got stuck after they ran aground, on the Mediterranean coast in Ashdod, Israel May 25, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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CENTCOM: Heavy Seas Batter US Gaza Maritime Aid Mission

Drone view of the scene where vessels, used for delivering aid to Palestinians via a new US-built pier in Gaza, got stuck after they ran aground, on the Mediterranean coast in Ashdod, Israel May 25, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Drone view of the scene where vessels, used for delivering aid to Palestinians via a new US-built pier in Gaza, got stuck after they ran aground, on the Mediterranean coast in Ashdod, Israel May 25, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Heavy seas battered the US maritime humanitarian mission to Gaza on Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said, with four vessels serving a floating aid delivery pier breaking free from their moorings.

No injuries were reported and the aid pier remains fully functional, CENTCOM said in a statement, adding that no US personnel would enter Gaza.

Two of the affected vessels were now anchored on the beach near the pier and the other two were beached on the coast of Israel near Ashkelon, CENTCOM said, adding that efforts to recover the vessels were under way with assistance from the Israeli Navy.



Israeli Forces Pound North and South Gaza, Battle Hamas in Rafah

Destroyed buildings stand in the coast of the Gaza Strip as seen from the Mediterranean Sea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Destroyed buildings stand in the coast of the Gaza Strip as seen from the Mediterranean Sea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Israeli Forces Pound North and South Gaza, Battle Hamas in Rafah

Destroyed buildings stand in the coast of the Gaza Strip as seen from the Mediterranean Sea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Destroyed buildings stand in the coast of the Gaza Strip as seen from the Mediterranean Sea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli forces pounded several areas across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.

Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs, Reuters reported.

Since early May, ground fighting has focused on Rafah, abutting Egypt on Gaza's southern edge, where around half of the enclave's 2.3 million people had been sheltering after fleeing other areas. Most have since had to flee again.

Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike in Rafah earlier on Wednesday.

The Israeli military said in a statement its forces killed a Hamas militant who had been involved in the smuggling of weapons through the border between Rafah and Egypt.
It said jets struck dozens of militant targets in Rafah overnight, including fighters, military structures and tunnel shafts.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, an Israeli air strike destroyed a house, killing four Palestinians and wounding several others, medics said.