Name: U.S. built aid pier scrapped as parts of Gaza starve
Uploaded: 2024-07-12T04:55:55.391Z
Duration: 2 min 22 s
Description: The Pentagon has declared its intention to dismantle its Gaza coast pier, originally built to deliver aid to the strip, amidst ongoing controversy surrounding its existence.

The Pentagon has declared its intention to dismantle its Gaza coast pier, originally built to deliver aid to the strip, amidst ongoing controversy surrounding its existence.

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The Pentagon has announced plans to dismantle a temporary pier constructed on the Gaza coast, which was intended to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. The pier, which started operations after an announcement during a State of the Union address about the U.S. commitment to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza, faced numerous technical and weather-related issues, leading to its removal.

Since becoming operational, the pier managed to unload over 8,100 metric tons of humanitarian aid, which is only a fraction of Gaza's needs. The distribution of this aid has faced significant challenges as humanitarian groups expressed safety concerns over transporting supplies. The U.S. maintained a stance against deploying military personnel on the ground to assist with logistics.

Despite its initial goal, the project was hindered by unexpected weather conditions in the Mediterranean, which the pier was not designed to withstand. Recently, Central Command decided to dismantle the pier due to high sea states and tow it back to Ashdod, Israel. The $230 million project was operational for only 20 days before being scrapped entirely.

The situation in Gaza has worsened, with certain areas entering full-blown famine conditions. In parallel, U.N. reports indicated that aid deliveries have dramatically decreased due to Israeli military actions. Throughout the pier's brief operation, available land routes for aid delivery to Gaza were not utilized by the U.S. to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.



U.S. built aid pier scrapped as parts of Gaza starve

the U.S. would construct a pier to transport aid into Gaza during his State of the Union address in March. It was a time of growing anger in the Democratic Party base at the U.S.'s unconditional support for Israel's campaign of bombing and enforced starvation. A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day. The announcement was reported to have taken many in the Pentagon by surprise, but the U.S. military vowed to construct the pier and have it operational within weeks. And over two months later, on May 17, the pier did become operational. Since then, the Pentagon says it's unloaded more than 8,100 metric tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza. It's a fraction of what Gaza needs, and it's unclear where much of that aid ended up. In late May, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder was asked if any of the aid had been delivered to the people of Gaza. This was his response. As of today, I do not believe so. In recent weeks, much of the aid was piling up in a staging area adjacent to the pier. Humanitarian groups were unwilling to transport the supplies out of concern for safety, and the U.S. has long insisted there would be no U.S. boots on the ground. What's finally been the fatal blow for this project is that it appears the Pentagon was surprised by the Mediterranean's conditions in the summer, conditions that this type of pier is not designed to withstand. The pier had to be dismantled several times due to what the U.S. says were technical and weather-related issues most recently several days ago. Now, due to high sea states expected this weekend, Central Command has removed the temporary pier from its anchored position in Gaza and will tow it back to Ashdod, Israel. An attempt to reattach the pier was aborted on Wednesday, and soon the entire project will be scrapped. The $230 million pier was in operation for a total of 20 days. Since its construction, areas of Gaza have officially been declared as entering full-blown famine. And at the end of May, the U.N. said aid deliveries had dropped by some two-thirds due to Israeli military action. Throughout the conception, construction and brief operation of the pier, the land routes that could supply the people of Gaza with what they need were available. But the U.S. didn't use its leverage to force Israel to open them for the safe delivery of aid. Ali Abertansi, Al Jazeera, Washington.

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