Aid is delivered to Gaza from newly repaired US-built pier, US official says
WASHINGTON — Much-needed aid has been delivered to Gaza from a recently repaired US-built pier, a US official said on Saturday problems that had plagued the effort to bring supplies to the Palestinians by sea.
The pier, built by the U.S. military, had only been operational for about a week blown apart by strong winds and heavy seas on May 25. The damaged part was reconnected to the beach in Gaza after undergoing repairs at an Israeli port.
Crews delivered about 1.1 million pounds (492 tons) of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the pier on Saturday, the U.S. official said. They spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement of the delivery.
It came on the same day that Israel launched a heavy air and ground attack attack that rescued four hostages, who was taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack that launched the war in Gaza. At least 210 Palestinians, including children, were killed, a Gaza health official said.
It brings online yet another way to get much-needed food and other emergency supplies for the Palestinians trapped by the eight-month-old baby Israel-Hamas war. Israeli restrictions on land crossings and fighting have severely limited the flow of food and other essential supplies into the area.
The damage to the pier was the latest stumbling block for the project and the ongoing struggle to get food starving Palestinians. Three U.S. service members were injured, one seriously, and four ships were stranded due to heavy seas.
Early efforts to get aid from the pier to the Gaza Strip were disrupted by crowds overwhelmed a convoy of trucks which aid agencies used to transport the food, with many of them having their cargo taken away before they could reach a UN warehouse. Officials responded by changing travel routes and aid began reaching those in need.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters Friday that lessons learned from that first week of operations gave him confidence that larger amounts of aid could now be delivered.
He said the goal was to get 1 million pounds (500 tons or 450 tons) of food and other supplies into Gaza through the pier every two days. More than 1,100 tons of aid was delivered before the causeway disintegrated during the storm, Pentagon officials said.
Aid groups have pressured Israel to reopen land routes that could bring in all the needed aid. Israel says it has allowed hundreds of trucks through a southern checkpoint and pointed the finger at the UN for not distributing aid. The UN says it is often unable to retrieve aid due to the security situation.
UN agencies have warned that more than 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could experience this highest level of famine if hostilities continue, by the middle of next month.
President Joe Biden’s administration has said from the start that the pier was not intended to be a one-stop solution and that any amount of aid helps.
Biden, a Democrat, made this announcement his plan for the US military to build a pier during the day his State of the Union address in early March, and the Army said it would take about 60 days to get it installed and operational. It took a little longer than planned, with the first trucks with relief supplies for the Gaza Strip rolling over the pier on May 17.
The initial cost was estimated at $320 million, but the Pentagon said last week that the price had fallen to $230 million, due to contributions from Britain and because the cost of contracting trucks and other equipment was lower than expected .