The United States is to permanently halt operations using the temporary pier erected off the Gaza Strip coastline to provide aid to the embattled Palestinian territory, the US military command responsible for the region said on Wednesday. An alternative route using the Israeli port of Ashdod to the north is in the planning stage, but details have not yet been released. From the outset, the pier was seen as a temporary solution to the problem of bringing aid into Gaza, but there have been repeated problems since it was put into operation in May. Rough seas severely damaged it, and distribution …