The temporary pier that the US military built and installed to provide much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza has disintegrated in rough seas, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
The latest disaster to befall the pier efforts marked a particularly grim period in Gaza, where Israeli forces have stepped up attacks on the city of Rafah just two days after carrying out an attack. deadly strike which killed dozens of people.
“Unfortunately, we had a perfect storm of states on the high seas, and then, as I said, this North African weather system kicked in at the same time, which did not create an optimal environment to operate in,” said Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary of the Pentagon. , said at a press conference.
Army engineers are working to reassemble the pier and Defense Department officials hope it will be “fully operational in just over a week,” she said.
In early March, President Biden surprised the Pentagon by announcing that the US military would build a pier for Gaza. Defense officials immediately predicted that this would be the case logistical and safety problems.
In the days after the pier became operational on May 17, trucks were looted as they headed to a warehouse, forcing the UN World Food Program to suspend operations. After officials increased security, the weather turned bad. U.S. officials had hoped the sea waves would not begin until later in the summer.
On Saturday, heavy seas forced two small US military ships that were part of the pier operation to beach in Israel. On Sunday, part of the pier completely demolished, including a wider parking lot for delivering goods shipped by ship, officials said. That part will have to be reconnected.
The pier is now being removed from the Gaza coast for repairs after it was damaged by rough seas, Ms Singh said. Over the next two days it will be picked up and taken to Ashdod, in southern Israel, for repairs.
She said the fact that the $320 million pier was able to bring 1,000 tons of relief supplies to Gaza before it fell apart shows that it can work.
White House policy does not allow U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza, so the Pentagon could start the mission but not finish it.
And while the pier project is struggling, the situation in Gaza remains dire. Even before Sunday's deadly Israeli attacks, more than 34,000 people had been killed and more than 77,000 injured in the area, according to health officials.