The US military said on Thursday that three US troops suffered non-combat related injuries while working on the US pier operation off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
According to Military Times, Vice Adm. Bradley Cooper, the deputy commander of US Central Command, said two of the troops suffered “minor” injuries, with one rolling an ankle and the other hurting their back.
The third service member had a severe enough injury to require medical evacuation to an Israeli hospital, but Cooper did not elaborate on what the injury was. “From a privacy perspective, I would just leave it at we had two minor injuries, and one, as I mentioned, was medivac,” he said.
While the Pentagon says the injuries were non-combat, the incident highlights the danger of the deployment. About 1,000 US troops are working just off the coast of Gaza, putting them in range of Hamas rockets.
Hamas and other Palestinian militants view the US as a party to the conflict since it provides most of the bombs Israel has been dropping on Gaza. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has acknowledged that there’s a risk of the US troops deployed for the pier mission coming under attack and said they would be able to shoot back.
The news of the injuries comes as aid deliveries through the pier resumed after the operation got off to a chaotic start. Aid deliveries started last Friday but were halted on Saturday after hungry Palestinians intercepted some of the shipments that were supposed to go to a World Food Program warehouse.
President Biden ordered the construction of the pier, which cost $320 million, instead of pressuring Israel to open more border crossings, which is by far the more efficient way to get aid into Gaza.
The pier is a joke. A bad joke. Ooh–a guy rolled an ankle and another hurt his back, and the third, well, let’s keep the curtain pulled down on that because we don’t want to trigger or upset the US populace that their soldiers are in danger from industrial-type accidents.
its hardly news is it given whats happening in Gaza and the wider world
Oh, but it is important news. These men are defenders of the free world………../s
Maybe they were starved to near death.
Are those troops allowed off the pier to get an up close look at what is happening in Gaza?
Lack of training of how to make a pier versus shooting their rifles…!
Nope. Clumsy.
Drunk…!?
“Sorry we can’t treat you here, all our hospitals are closed for repairs.”
A sprained ankle and a sore back?
Amid thousands of dead and starving babies, my sympathy goes to the real victims, and I trust that even those who hurt themselves helping agree on that.
So are they going to receive 100% disability? /s
Purple Hearts with Untermenshdeportnung garlands.
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