The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, confirmed on Friday that truckloads of humanitarian aid, including food from the United Arab Emirates, sent by ship from Cyprus, had been unloaded on the Gaza coast and handed over to the control of the UN.

The head of the US Agency for International Development (USAid), Samantha Power, said the US would use the sea route to deliver “metric tons of life-saving aid, including nutrient rich food to support thousands of Gaza’s most vulnerable children and adults; and critical supplies such as plastic sheeting for shelter, jerry cans to hold clean water, and hygiene kits”.

But, Power added: “The pier that opened today does not replace or substitute for land crossings into Gaza, every one of which needs to operate at maximum capacity and efficiency.

Although the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have yet to launch an attack on the centre of Rafah, the UN said on Friday that nearly 640,000 people had been displaced from the city, many of them going north to Deir al-Balah, where, it said, conditions were “dire”.

The maritime route involves shipments of aid being inspected by Israel at the Cypriot port of Larnaca, then transported by large ships to a floating dock a few kilometres off the Gaza coast.

The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, followed by a stop in Israel for a meeting with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

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