The US military has begun construction on a pier meant to boost deliveries of desperately needed aid to Gaza, the Pentagon said on Thursday. The small coastal territory has been devastated by more than six months of brutal Israeli bombardment and ground operations, leaving the civilian population in need of humanitarian assistance to survive. “I can confirm that US military vessels… have begun to construct the initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists. Indications are that the pier will be operational in early May, an…