The US military has confirmed that the first aid shipment via a temporary pier off Gaza has gone ashore.

US Central Command confirmed in a post on X that the aid trucks began moving ashore at about 0900 local time (0700 BST).

“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 post read, adding that no US troops went ashore.

The US began building the floating base weeks ago to facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza as Israel continues its military campaign against Hamas.

On Wednesday, it was reported that hundreds of tonnes of aid arrived in Cyprus, where screening takes place before being loaded on to ships for delivery to the pier.

Vice Adm Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, said commercial ships would collect pallets from Cyprus and deliver them to a floating platform anchored several kilometres off the coast of Gaza.

Smaller US military vessels, capable of carrying between five and 15 lorries of aid, will then transport it to a floating pier, several hundred metres long, fixed to the beach in Gaza.

Lorries will travel along the pier before dropping off the aid at a marshalling yard on the beach.

Authorities said that the UN, primarily the World Food Programme, will be responsible for the onward distribution of aid.