Smaller US military vessels, capable of carrying between five and 15 trucks of aid, will then transport it to a floating causeway, several hundred metres long, fixed to the beach in Gaza.
Trucks will travel along the causeway before dropping off the aid at a marshalling yard on the beach.
Vice-Admiral Cooper said the UN, primarily the World Food Programme, will be responsible for the onward distribution of aid.
In a separate statement, external, the UK Foreign Office said nearly 100 tonnes of UK aid, consisting of 8,400 “shelter coverage kits” (temporary shelters make up of plastic sheeting) left Cyprus on Wednesday, bound for the temporary pier.
UN officials say there has been substantial co-ordination with the US over the operation of the JLOTS, but that they have lingering concerns about how it will work, whether it will bring what is needed to Gaza, and whether it will prove safe for aid workers and Gazans alike.
Privately, some describe it as a high tech distraction from what is really needed – properly functioning aid crossings and a safe distribution system throughout the Gaza Strip.
The US officials briefing reporters emphasised that the JLOTS is designed to augment existing efforts to bring aid into Gaza, not replace them.
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