American pier to be moved to shelter during rough seas

The temporary American pier which allows the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gazan population will be removed in anticipation of rough seas, the American Military Command for the Middle East (Centcom) announced on Friday June 14. That “will help avoid structural damage caused by sea conditions”, said the press release. It will be moved to the Israeli port of Ashdod, Israel. “The decision to temporarily relocate the pier is not taken lightly, but is necessary so that the temporary pier can continue to deliver aid in the future”added Centcom, promising that it will be reinstalled “quickly”.

The World Food Program, in charge of delivering aid to Gaza via the jetty, had already announced on Monday that it was suspending its operations to assess the security situation. Installed in mid-May, it had already been removed at the end of the month due to a storm, before being reinstalled. Israel’s primary military supporter, Washington installed this pier off the coast of Gaza in the face of severe restrictions imposed by Israel on the land delivery of aid to the Palestinian territory, ravaged by eight months of war.

Since May 17, writes Centcom, more than 3,500 tons of aid “were delivered via the maritime corridor, to then be distributed by humanitarian organizations”. According to the United Nations, almost all of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced by fighting and bombing and are food insecure, with the risk of large-scale famine.