Hijacked: Humanitarian aid trucks traveling to Gaza had shipments seized

WASHINGTON — Humanitarian aid trucks traveling to the war-torn Gaza shore were hijacked before reaching their destination, according to the Pentagon.For months, the Pentagon has touted its efforts to bring desperately needed aid to Palestinians facing dire shortages of food and medicine amid Israel’s war on Hamas.The first shipments of aid began arriving late last week.

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On Tuesday, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder acknowledged that some of the initial shipment of 569 metric tons of aid had been seized after it left the causeway built by the Pentagon.“This is not in the causeway, it's not in the assembly areas, it's out in Gaza,” Ryder said. “Once it left that maritime marshaling area. I think we can all agree that that demonstrates the importance of making sure that we can continue to get aid into Gaza, not only by maritime routes but also by land routes and the desperation that's out there.”

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The safety of aid workers is a key consideration, Ryder said.

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“There have been discussions between the U.S., Israel, United Nations, as well as joint efforts to identify alternative routes for the safe movement of staff and cargo,” Ryder said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Humanitarian aid trucks traveling to Gaza hijacked