The repairs to the US-built pier that was damaged off the coast of Gaza will cost at least $22 million, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing two Pentagon officials.
The US military is currently working to repair the pier in the Israeli port of Ashdod and the total cost could rise as high as $28 million. The pier broke apart due to heavy seas as it was not capable of handling waves bigger than one or two feet.
While the repairs have a huge price tag, the Pentagon has also said the estimate of the overall cost of the project has lowered from about $320 million to $230 million. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at least some of the repair costs were factored into the new estimate.
According to the Post, the new estimate is due to “lower-than-expected expenses for contracted vehicles and drivers, and Britain’s contribution of a military vessel to house the US troops involved in the operation.”
Despite the disastrous start, the Pentagon is looking to reconnect the pier to Gaza’s shore later this week. For the brief time it was operating, barely any aid trucks entered Gaza through the pier, and Israel’s starvation blockade on Gaza has been tightened since Israel captured the Rafah border crossing on May 7.
President Biden ordered the construction of the pier instead of pressuring Israel to open more land border crossings, which is by far the more efficient way to get more aid into Gaza.
According to a report from The Jerusalem Post, the idea to build the pier actually came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who proposed it to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in October. A reporter for Israel’s Kan news said in March that during a meeting of the Knessett’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Netanyahu suggested using the pier to remove Palestinians from Gaza.
The PR Pier would be a good laugh, if anything in Gaza was funny anymore.
Nothing in Gaza was ever funny, Hype. But I hear you on the consistent planned US boondoggles.
Giving some fellow sailors benefit of the doubt on this one, zionazis probably cut their lines while Langley watched the whole scuba dive party in HD from orbit.
Afshin Rattansi ( @afshinrattansi
How the Nuseirat Massacre unfolded:
Israel used the US-built ‘humanitarian pier’ to sneak in a unit of Israeli soldiers, and reportedly American soldiers.
The soldiers boarded a humanitarian aid truck and drove to Nuseirat refugee camp.
Once inside, they were discovered by Palestinians, which resulted in nonstop Israeli aerial bombardment and the soldiers opening fire inside the central market killing over 210 Palestinians and injuring hundreds
The ‘humanitarian pier’ gets exposed to be an occupation, assassination, and massacre pier.
The Americans cannot be trusted under any circumstances. A humanitarian pier built under the guise of helping hungry and starving Palestinians, was actually used to massacre them.
Every day the US’ colonial barbarism gets revealed to be more and more horrific.
Another embarrassing item added to the list of Biden's failures. To be kicked in the face every day and continue to act unaffected, you need advanced dementia.
He never wanted aid to reach Gaza.
Hundreds of trucks full of vital aid can roll in at any time with one phone call from the Mummy.
He could sink into a coma, who needs him anyway?
Would anybody notice?
Bidentime could be readily "presence multiplied" by CGI, but does it matter?
I get the feeling the RealiTV script is already written, but we don't get to see it until the players play in prime time.
Our best guesses might best be educated by objectively considering all the most effective marketing that we've fallen for, constructing a model from that of superorganistic intent and style, and then thought-experimentally applying it to what our most overspecialized in greed have to work with in emerging events.
Running that, likely schemes come up, such as Trump's in but not for a full term, and an evangelical fascist VP will be the new rising star at the burning sunset of empire.
Whatever the results of such thought experimentation, some of the necessary basic parameters are astounding enough on their own-
Like the surreal spectacle of so many USAmericans behaving as if they truly believe that Trump and Biden truly represent justifiable choices for top leadership in a representative republic. Or that they cannot grok both D&R parties being operated by one socopathic oligarchy, where the elite-freak is on out about their end-imperial endings.
This time they should use Russian or Chinese parts…!
And expertise- For free!
Ami Go Home
While the repairs have a huge price tag, the Pentagon has also said the estimate of the overall cost of the project has lowered from about $320 million to $230 million.
Whew, and here I originally thought it was a waste of money. /s
Not a waste but a typing error.
I am impressed they simply turned the 32 around to make it 23, just a typing error, next they will simply drop a zero and it costs nothing.
This is surreal. Must be one of those weird dreams we sometimes have.
It was never meant to serve the purpose that they claimed.
22 million is just a drop in the bucket.
Waste of money.