The US floating pier in Gaza. (Photo: US Army, via Wikimedia Commons)
The US may have hoped that its Gaza Pier project would give Israel more cards to control the fate of Palestinians. The opposite seems to be true.
The floating pier built by the United States to bring more humanitarian aid into Gaza amid the Israeli war on Gaza could be dismantled earlier than planned, the New York Times has reported, citing aid organizations.
According to the newspaper, the $230 million structure could be taken down in early July.
The US administration of Joe Biden had predicted that by September the surging sea would make the pier inoperable.
The floating dock has only been in service for about ten days in total since it was inaugurated in mid-May due to weather damage, stormy seas, and security concerns.
Aid organizations say the project has largely failed in its mission.
The pier “is not working, at least not for Palestinians,” Stephen Semler, co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute, wrote in an essay cited by the outlet.
Semler reportedly argued that the pier had succeeded only in providing “humanitarian cover” for the Biden administration’s policy of supporting Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
Aid started arriving into Gaza via the pier on May 17, with the US saying it had transported 137 trucks of aid to warehouses before it was announced on May 28 that operations on the floating dock were suspended for repairs.
US officials had repeatedly stated that the pier was never meant to be more than a stopgap measure and was just an additional way to help get more aid into Gaza amid the war.
Distribution of food to the Palestinian enclave via the sea route was suspended again last Friday when the US military said it would temporarily move the pier to keep it from being damaged by high seas.
“The safety of our service members is a top priority and temporarily relocating the pier will prevent structural damage caused by the heightened sea state,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated in a social media post. About 1,000 US service members operate the pier.
The UN World Food Program, which works with the US to bring aid from the pier to warehouses in Gaza, suspended cooperation earlier this month for a “security review” amid concerns for its staff and allegations that the pier could have been used by the Israeli army during the military operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which led to the killing of 274 Palestinians, three Israeli captives and the release of four others.
The Pentagon quickly denied that the aid pier was used in the operation.
The UN has insisted that aid deliveries by land are the “most viable, effective, and efficient” way to combat the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people. At least 500 trucks a day are needed to enter Gaza, it said.
Ongoing Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,431 Palestinians have been killed, and 85,653 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(PC, RT)
Source: Palestine Chronicle
