(Washington) The temporary pier built by the United States to deliver humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians will be removed from the Gaza coast for repairs after being damaged by rough seas and bad weather, the Government announced Tuesday. Pentagon.
Over the next two days, the pier will be removed and sent to the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, where US Central Command will repair it, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters. The latter indicated that the repairs would take “at least more than a week” and that then the pier would have to be anchored again in the Gaza beach.
This pier, used to transport humanitarian aid arriving by sea, is one of the few ways that food, water and other supplies reach Palestinians who the UN says are on the brink of famine amid the nearly eight-month-old war between Israel and Hamas.
The setback is the latest for the $320 million dock, which only began operations in the past two weeks, has already injured three U.S. military personnel and seen four ships run aground due to the rough sea.
Deliveries were also halted for two days last week after a crowd rushed aid trucks coming from the pier and a Palestinian was shot dead. Since then, the US military has been working with the United Nations and Israeli officials to find alternative, safer routes for the trucks, the Pentagon announced Friday.
The pier was fully functional until Saturday, when rough seas unmoored four of the army boats that were used to transport pallets of aid from commercial ships to the pier. The device is anchored in the beach and provides a long causeway for trucks to transport this aid to the shore.
Two of the ships ran aground in Gaza and two others on the Israeli coast near Ashkelon.
Before the damage, the pier had started operating efficiently. As of Friday, more than 820 tons of food aid had been delivered from the sea to Gaza beach via the jetty.
U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed that the dock cannot provide all the aid needed by starving Gazans and said more checkpoints for humanitarian trucks should be opened.
At its maximum capacity, the pier would provide enough food for 500,000 Gazans. U.S. officials have stressed the need to open land crossings for the remaining 1.8 million people.
The United States also plans to continue providing food airdrops, which also cannot meet all needs.
The intensification of the Israeli offensive in the southern town of Rafah has made it impossible to deliver aid through the crossing, which is an important entry for fuel and food into Gaza.
Israel says it routes aid through another border crossing, Kerem Shalom, but aid organizations point out that Israeli military operations make it difficult to get aid back for distribution.