May 29th 2024.
A temporary pier, built by the US, has been serving as a lifeline for starving Palestinians for less than two weeks. However, due to rough seas and inclement weather, the pier has suffered damage and will now be removed from the coast of Gaza for repairs.
According to Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, the pier will be pulled from the beach over the next two days and sent to the city of Ashdod in southern Israel, where it will be repaired by US Central Command. The repairs are expected to take at least a week, after which the pier will be re-anchored back into the beach in Gaza.
Singh explained that the pier had been functioning properly before the recent string of storms inhibited its operations. She expressed hope that within a little over a week, the pier will be up and running again, providing much-needed aid to the Palestinians.
The pier, used to transport humanitarian supplies arriving by sea, is one of the few avenues through which free food and other essential items are reaching the Palestinians, who are on the brink of famine according to the UN. This is due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which has been raging for nearly eight months now.
The two main crossings in southern Gaza, Rafah and Kerem Shalom, have been either closed or inaccessible to the UN due to the nearby fighting as Israel pushes into Rafah. As a result, the pier and the two crossings in northern Gaza have become the primary points of entry for humanitarian aid over the past few weeks.
Unfortunately, this setback is just the latest in a series of challenges faced by the $320 million pier. In the short time that it has been operational, three US service members have been injured and four vessels have been beached due to harsh weather conditions.
Singh confirmed that two of the service members sustained minor injuries, while the third is still in critical condition. Additionally, there was a temporary halt in deliveries last week when a large crowd of people rushed towards the aid trucks coming from the pier, resulting in the death of a Palestinian man who was shot by Israeli forces.
Despite these obstacles, the pier had been functioning smoothly until Saturday when heavy waves caused four Army boats to come loose from their moorings. These boats were being used to ferry aid from commercial vessels to the pier, but they ended up getting stuck on the coast of Israel.
Singh assured that one of the boats has already been retrieved, and the other will be recovered in the next 24 hours with the help of the Israeli military. As for the remaining two boats, they are currently stranded on the beach in Gaza and are expected to be recovered within the next two days.
This suspension of the pier's operations comes at a time when the new sea route had gained momentum, with over 1000 metric tons of food aid successfully delivered. However, US officials have repeatedly stressed that the pier alone cannot meet the dire needs of the Gazans and that more land crossings need to be opened for humanitarian trucks.
At maximum capacity, the pier can only provide enough food for 500,000 people in Gaza, leaving 1.8 million others in need. To address this, the US has also been conducting airdrops of food, although this method also falls short of meeting all the needs.
Unfortunately, the situation has been further complicated by the escalating Israeli offensive in the city of Rafah, which has made it impossible for aid to pass through the crossing there. In response, Israel has been using another border crossing, Kerem Shalom, to bring in aid. However, humanitarian organizations have reported difficulties in retrieving the aid due to ongoing military operations.
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