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No, a storm did not sink the American floating port in Gaza
What happened to the American-built floating port in Gaza? Designed to transport humanitarian aid from Cyprus to the enclave, it was recently hit by a strong storm. Some claim on social networks that it simply…sank! This is false: although the structure was indeed damaged, it survived before being taken to Israel for repairs. Washington hopes to reinstall it within a few days.
(France 24)
What happened to the American-built floating port in Gaza? Designed to transport humanitarian aid from Cyprus to the enclave, it was recently hit by a strong storm. Some claim on social networks that it simply…sank! This is false: although the structure was indeed damaged, it survived before being taken to Israel for repairs. Washington hopes to reinstall it within a few days.
Building a pier docked in Gaza to collect international humanitarian aid from Cyprus is a project announced by Joe Biden on March 7 during his State of the Union speech. The announcement then took several officials by surprise, and quickly received numerous criticisms from NGOs.
The project was delayed, but finally came to fruition on May 17 when the first trucks were unloaded in Gaza. But barely a week later, a violent storm hits the region. Several viral contents then claim on social networks that the $320 million project was destroyed by bad weather.
In reality, four stabilizing structures actually failed and the platform began to drift. But although damaged, it was recovered and transported to the port of Ashdod in Israel for repairs. The United States affirms that the project is far from being abandoned, and that everything should be reinstalled “by the end of the week” to resume humanitarian aid operations.
NGOs, for their part, remain skeptical. In one week of operation, only 97 trucks were unloaded in Gaza thanks to the floating port. Far from the 150 per day hoped for by Washington, and even further from the 500 per day before October 7.
In mid-May, a spokesperson for the UN General Secretariat already stressed that humanitarian aid “cannot and should not depend on a floating jetty, far from where the needs are most acute”. The associations continue to point out that neither the sea route nor the air route can replace aid flows supported by road.
