The US is temporarily suspending aid deliveries for the people in the Gaza Strip via the temporary pier set up by the US military due to stormy seas, according to a statement from Washington.
"Due to high sea states and the North African weather system earlier today, a portion of the Trident pier separated from the pier that is currently anchored into the coast of Gaza," said Deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on Tuesday.
"As a result, the Trident pier was damaged and sections of the pier need rebuilding and repairing therefore, over the next 48 hours, the Trident pier will be removed from its anchored position on the coast and towed back to Ashdod where US central command will conduct repairs," she said.
Rebuilding and repairing the pier will take "at least over a week," she said, adding it would then need to be returned to its position.
Washington intends to resume aid deliveries by sea, she said. "The pier proved highly valuable in delivering aid to the people of Gaza. Thus, upon completion of the pier repair and reassembly, the intention is to re-anchor the temporary pier to the coast of Gaza and resume humanitarian aid to the people who need it most."
The temporary harbour was serving as a hub for the delivery of desperately needed aid supplies as Gaza itself has no harbour deep enough for larger cargo vessels.
Cargo ships bring aid supplies from Cyprus to a floating platform a few kilometres off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The goods are then loaded onto smaller ships that can dock at the temporary pier, where their cargoes are transferred to lorries to be distributed across the territory.
Aid organizations welcomed the construction of the facility, but point out that transport by land is far more efficient, and accused Israel of obstructing access for aid deliveries at its borders with Gaza.
The US government said the corridor across the Mediterranean does not replace aid deliveries by land, but merely supplements them.
The Pentagon said last week that in further problems with the distribution of aid supplies, some lorries were intercepted and that the operation was complex.
Trucks carrying relief supplies entered the Gaza Strip via the temporary port for the first time on May 17.
The Pentagon originally assumed that around 90 lorry loads per day could initially reach the Gaza Strip via the port and this was to rise to 150 loads per day at a later date. However, significantly less has arrived so far.
The Pentagon estimates the cost of the pier at around $300 million.