The US military said on Saturday that first aid supplies arrived at a US-built pier in Gaza as storm damage required repairs to the project, resuming an effort to deliver supplies by sea to beleaguered Palestinians.

The pier, built by the US military, lasted for about a week before it was destroyed by strong winds and heavy seas on May 25. The damaged section was reconnected to the Gaza beach on Friday after being repaired at an Israeli port.

US Central Command said in a statement that nearly 1.1 million pounds (492 metric tons) of humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza via the ferry on Saturday. It reiterated that no US military personnel went ashore in Gaza. The US Agency for International Development works with the United Nations World Food Program and their humanitarian partners in Gaza to distribute food and other aid that comes from the US-operated ferry.

The supplies came on the same day Israel launched a heavy air and ground assault to rescue four hostages taken by Hamas during the attack that launched the war in Gaza on October 7. A Gaza health official said at least 210 Palestinians were killed, including children.

Responding to the social media claims, US Central Command said in a tweet that neither the Ghat nor any of its equipment, personnel or other assets were used in the Israeli operation. It mentioned that Israel used an area south of the Ghat “to safely return the hostages”.

“The floating pier off the coast of Gaza was constructed for one purpose only: to deliver additional, urgently needed lifesaving assistance to Gaza,” the US military said.

USAID said in a separate statement that no humanitarian workers were involved in the Israeli operation.

“Humanitarian aid workers in Gaza are working in extremely difficult and unsafe conditions and must be protected,” the agency said in an email. “Aid workers operate under humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.”

The movement of aid through the ferry has brought back online a way to deliver much-needed food and other emergency supplies to Palestinians caught in the eight-month-old Israel-Hamas war. Israeli restrictions on land transit and fighting have significantly limited the flow of food and other vital supplies into the region.

Damage to the pier was the latest obstacle to the project and the continued struggle to provide food to hungry Palestinians. Three American service members were injured, one seriously, and four ships ran aground on the beach due to heavy seas.

Initial efforts to deliver aid from the ferry to the Gaza Strip were also disrupted as crowds seized a convoy of trucks used by aid agencies to deliver food, and unloaded many of those trucks before they could reach a UN warehouse. Authorities responded by changing travel routes, and aid began to reach those in need.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, told reporters on Friday that lessons learned from the initial week of the operation have made him confident that greater amounts of aid can now be delivered.

He said the goal is to deliver 1 million pounds of food and other supplies to Gaza every two days via the ferry. Central Command said Saturday that nearly 3.5 million pounds of humanitarian aid had been delivered by sea to date.

Relief agencies have been pressing Israel to reopen the land route so all needed aid can be delivered. Israel says it has allowed hundreds of trucks to enter through the southern checkpoint and has pointed the finger at the United Nations for not delivering aid. The UN says it is often unable to get aid in because of the security situation.

UN agencies have warned that more than 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could face the highest levels of starvation on record by the middle of next month if hostilities continue.

President Joe Biden’s administration has said from the beginning that the ferries aren’t a complete solution and that any assistance would help.

Democrat Biden announced his plan to build a pier for US forces during his State of the Union address in early March, and the military said it would take about 60 days to set up and become operational. It took a little longer than planned, with the first trucks carrying aid for the Gaza Strip landing at the pier on May 17.

The initial cost was estimated at $320 million, but the Pentagon said last week that the price had dropped to $230 million because of Britain’s contribution and because contract costs for trucks and other equipment were lower than expected.