WASHINGTON — A key section of the US military-built pier, designed to transport much-needed aid to Gaza by boat, has been reconnected to the Gaza beach after repairs from storm damage. Aid will begin flowing soon, U.S. Central Command announced Friday.
The part that connects to the beach, the dike, was rebuilt almost two weeks later heavy storms damaged it and abruptly halted what had already been a difficult delivery route. Humanitarian aid is expected to enter the enclave via the maritime route in the coming days.
Much of the causeway broke apart on May 25 when heavy winds and high seas hit the area, and four army ships operating there ran aground, injuring three servicemen, including one who remains in critical condition . The damage was the latest stumbling block in the ongoing struggle to get food starving Palestinians during almost 8 months old Israel-Hamas war.
Bad weather had previously delayed delivery parts of the pier and U.S. military personnel from Virginia to the region. And early efforts to get aid from the pier to Gaza were disrupted when residents stormed the trucks aid agencies were using to transport the food to warehouses for distribution.
For a limited time, the maritime route had been an additional way to get more aid to Gaza the Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah has made it difficult, if not impossible, to achieve anything by land routes that are much more productive. President Joe Biden’s administration has said from the beginning that the pier was not intended to be a one-stop solution and that any amount of aid helps.
Due to the storm damage to the causeway, large sections were disconnected and moved to the Israeli port for repairs.
Two of the US military boats ran aground near Ashkelon in Israel but were freed, and the other two were stranded on the Gaza coastline. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the two ingested a lot of water and sand and that the Israeli navy helped with the repairs.
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. The initial cost was estimated at $320 million, but Singh said earlier this 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 .
The installation took a little longer than the planned two months the first trucks with relief supplies for the Gaza Strip that rolled over the pier on May 17. Just a day later, crowds overwhelmed a convoy of trucks as they entered Gaza, removing the cargo from 11 of the 16 vehicles before reaching a UN warehouse.
The next day, as officials changed the convoys’ travel routes, aid finally began to reach those in need. More than 1,100 metric tons (1,000 metric tons) of aid was delivered before the levee collapsed during the storm, Pentagon officials said.
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