US military says “no more need” to use offshore Gaza aid pier
The US military announced on July 17th that the country’s mission to operate its offshore pier for Gaza aid was complete, Middle East Monitor and agencies reported.
“The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete,” said Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, “so there’s no more need to use the pier.”
The $320 million structure has only been operational for around 20 days.
“Our assessment is that the temporary pier has achieved its intended effect to surge a very high volume of aid into Gaza and ensure that aid reaches the civilians in Gaza in a quick manner,” he said.
Though the pier — which took around 1,000 US forces to execute — has faced several challenges, like becoming detached as a result of sea and weather conditions. Humanitarian organisations also warned that the pier would be insufficient to provide the amount of aid required to help the Palestinians suffering from near-famine: around 600 trucks of humanitarian and commercial supplies per day.
Some critics have accused the US of using the pier to facilitate Israel’s aggression on Gaza. It is thought to have been used to smuggle Israeli special forces ahead of the country’s June 8th Nuseirat Massacre, in which 300 Palestinians died.
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The pier’s construction also caused internal tension within the US. Some Republicans even branded the operation as a political stunt by US President Joe Biden.
“This chapter might be over in President Biden’s mind, but the national embarrassment that this project has caused is not,” said top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee Senator Roger Wicker. “The only miracle is that this doomed-from-the-start operation did not cost any American lives.”
The UN World Food Programme paused the pier’s operations in June due to security concerns, resulting in aid piling up on the shore. The UN has repeatedly warned that maritime deliveries cannot substitute for the accessibility that would come from unrestricted land access — something that Israel has steadfastly prevented.
On July 15th, thirteen NGOs released a shared statement in which they accused Israel of using “siege tactics” to intentionally block aid from reaching Gaza civilians.
Cooper said efforts to distribute aid to Gaza arriving by sea would shift to Israel’s Ashdod port, where he anticipated at least 5 million pounds of aid to arrive in the coming days.
Middle East Monitor and agencies
