WASHINGTON: A U.S. military-built pier off Gaza’s coast is being removed after a part of the structure broke off, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The pier was used to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Announced by U.S. President Joe Biden in March, the plan involved the military assembling the floating structure off the coast. Estimated to cost $320 million for the first 90 days and involve about 1,000 U.S. service members, it went into operation two weeks ago.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said a portion of the pier had separated and that the pier would be towed over the next 48 hours to Ashdod port in Israel for repairs.
Singh added the pier would take over a week to repair and then returned to its place off the coast of Gaza.
U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters earlier on Tuesday that bad weather was believed to be the reason that the part of the pier had broken off.
The temporary pier, known as the Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS), is located just north of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, which has been the focus of an Israeli offensive.
Since the pier began operations, the United Nations has transported 137 trucks of aid from the pier – the equivalent of 900 metric tons – said a U.N. World Food Programme spokesperson.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that a “great deal of humanitarian assistance” has been “flowing” into Gaza.
“There has been a great deal that has been delivered into the north of Gaza over the past few weeks, something that happened because of the United States’ intervention,” he said. However, he said getting aid into southern Gaza has been “a real challenge”.
US Central Command said the pier was damaged three days after heavy seas led to two US Army vessels having to beach in Israel. Another two vessels anchored close to the pier broke free of their moorings and beached in Gaza.
(REUTERS)
