Cindy McCain, the director of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), says the distribution of aid through the US-built pier off Gaza has been “paused” because of concerns about safety amid the latest Israeli assaults on Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

McCain made her comments after she was asked about operations at the pier in an interview with the US broadcaster CBS.

“Right now, we’re paused,” she said on the Face the Nation programme, adding that two of the WFP’s warehouses had also come under rocket fire and one person had been injured.

“I’m concerned about the safety of our people. We’ve stepped back for the moment … to make sure we’re on safe terms and on safe ground before we’ll restart. But the rest of the country is operational. We’re doing everything we can in the north and the south.”

McCain did not say when operations might resume at the pier, which was completed in mid-May but was then damaged in a storm, which meant operations were suspended for two weeks, AJ stated.