WASHINGTON — The pier built by the US Army has been again withdrawn from the Gaza coast due to rough seas, and its future role in distributing aid to the Palestinians is uncertain.
Humanitarian aid groups stopped distributing supplies who arrived by sea on June 9 due to safety concerns and I didn’t start it again. U.S. officials say the pier should not be reinstalled unless aid agencies reach an agreement to begin distributing aid again. Meanwhile, food and other supplies are being shipped from Cyprus pile up on shoreand soon the secured area on the beach in Gaza will reach its maximum capacity.
It’s been a long time and difficult way to the pierwhich has been battered by weather and plagued by safety issues. Here’s how it started and where it is now.
MARCH 7TH: President Joe Biden announces his plan for the US military to build a pier during his State of the Union address.
“Tonight I am directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to build a temporary pier in the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments of food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” he said.
But even in those first few moments, he noted that the pier would increase the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, but that Israel must “do its part” and let in more aid.
MARCH 8: Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, tells reporters it will take “up to 60 days” to deploy forces and build the project.
MARCH 12: Four U.S. military boats, loaded with tons of equipment and steel pier parts, depart Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia and head into the Atlantic Ocean for what is expected to be a month-long journey to Gaza.
Brigade commander, Army Col. Sam Miller, warns that transit and construction will be highly dependent on the weather and high seas they encounter.
LATE MARCH: U.S. military ships encounter high seas and rough weather as they cross the Atlantic, slowing their pace.
APRIL 1: Seven World Central Kitchen Aid Workers are killed in an Israeli airstrike while traveling in clearly marked vehicles on an Israeli-sanctioned delivery mission.
The strike fuels ongoing concerns about the safety of aid workers and is causing aid agencies to suspend the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
APRIL 19: US officials confirm that the UN World Food Programme has agreed to deliver aid via the sea route to Gaza once construction is completed.
APRIL 25: Large-scale construction of the coastal port facility near Gaza City is beginning to take shape. At the onshore location, aid will be delivered from the causeway and given to relief organizations.
APRIL 30: Satellite photos show the U.S. Navy ship USNS Roy P. Benavidez and Army ships working to assemble the pier and connector road about 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) from the coastal port.
MAY 9: The US ship Sagamore is the first ship loaded with aid to leave Cyprus and head for Gaza and ultimately the pier. An extensive security and inspection station has been built in Cyprus to screen aid supplies from a number of countries.
MAY 16: Well past the target time of 60 days, the construction and assembly of the pier off the coast of Gaza and the causeway attached to the coastline have been completed after more than a week of weather and other delays.
MAY 17: The first trucks with relief supplies for the Gaza Strip they roll via the newly built pier to the secured area on land. There they are unloaded and the cargo is distributed to aid organizations, who take them to Gaza by truck.
May 18: A crowd of desperate Palestinians overwhelms a convoy of aid trucks leaving the pier. They unload the cargo from 11 of the 16 vehicles before the aid arrives at a UN depot for distribution.
May 19-20: The first food from the pier According to the World Food Program, a limited number of cookies with high nutritional value are reaching people in need in central Gaza.
Aid agencies are suspending deliveries from the pier for two days while the US works with Israel to open alternative land routes from the pier and improve security.
MAY 24: So far, just over 1,000 tons of aid have been delivered to Gaza via the US-built pier. USAID later reported that this was all distributed within Gaza.
MAY 25: Strong winds and heavy seas damage the pier and caused four U.S. military ships to run aground, injuring three servicemen, one of whom is in critical condition.
Two ships ran aground in Gaza, near the foot of the pier, and two ran aground near Ashkelon, Israel.
MAY 28: Large parts of the causeway were taken from the beach and moved to an Israeli port for repairs. The base of the link road remains on the Gaza coast.
JUNE 7: The damaged connecting road was rebuilt and reconnected to the beach in Gaza.
JUNE 8: The US military announces that deliveries resumed from the repaired and reinstalled dock.
Same day, Israel four hostages rescued captured by Hamas in the October 7 attacks, an operation that killed 270 Palestinians.
JUNE 9: Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Programme, announced a “pause” in collaboration with the American pier during a TV interview, in which he referred to the previous day’s “incident” and the shelling of two WFP warehouses that injured one worker.
JUNE 10: WFP says the UN will conduct a security review to assess the safety of its staff in handling aid deliveries from the pier. In the meantime, the US military said it would store aid shipments at a secured beach in Gaza.
Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, said no aspect of the pier or its equipment was used in Israel’s rescue operation. The Pentagon said an area south of the pier was used for the return of freed hostages to Israel.
JUNE 14: The pier was detached from the beach in Gaza to prevent damage during rough seas and allow the military to reattach the pier more quickly later, US officials said.
JUNE 19: The pier was re-anchored in Gaza and more than 656 tons, or 1.4 million pounds, of aid was delivered in the hours after operations resumed, Ryder said.
However, aid organizations have not yet started distributing the relief supplies. That is why the employees stored the relief supplies in a secure area.
JUNE 28: The pier is being removed due to weather conditions, and the US is considering not replacing it unless aid starts flowing back to Palestinians in need, several US officials said.