The United Nations is transferring thousands of tons of humanitarian supplies from a US-constructed pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip after the temporary port was suspended due to poor weather, an aid official said on Sunday.

Workers started on Friday transporting the piled-up aid, mostly food, to warehouses, the World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Abeer Etefa told dpa. The aid will be distributed later.

The transfer operation is ongoing and its completion depends on “easiness of movement” inside the coastal enclave, Etefa added, saying she has no idea about the fate of the pier.

The harbour was dismantled several times because of bad weather. The $300 million pier became operational in mid-May to serve as a hub for the delivery of desperately needed aid supplies to Gaza.

On Friday, the Pentagon said the US military was temporarily dismantling the pier due to heavy seas and high winds. No date was given for reinstalling the facility.

The WFP, a UN agency, has recently halted the distribution of aid following a massive Israeli military operation near the pier.

Israel has been bombarding Gaza for months, since the Palestinian Hamas militants launched unprecedented bloody attacks on Israel in October last year that included massacres of civilians.

Israel responded to the attacks by sealing off the impoverished territory. A lack of basic supplies has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.