The US military has again removed the pier it built off the coast of Gaza due to seas it cannot handle, and the floating structure will be towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, the Pentagon announced on Friday.
Since its construction, the pier has barely brought any aid into Gaza, as it’s frequently been suspended due to weather. The pier can only be safely operated in a maximum of 3-foot waves and winds less than approximately 15 miles per hour.
The US is considering not re-installing the pier since the aid shipments that it has delivered to Gaza have not been distributed to starving Palestinians. Aid has piled up at a nearby storage yard as the UN’s World Food Program suspended operations on June 9 after the Israeli attack on Nuiserat that killed over 270 Palestinians and freed four Israeli hostages.
On Saturday, the WFP announced that it started delivering some of the aid, but it’s unclear if the security situation will allow continued distribution. WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa told The Associated Press that clearing the storage yard is a one-time operation and that further operations at the pier will be assessed based on the security situation.
The AP report said that the UN is investigating whether or not the US-built pier was used in the Nuiserat massacre. Video that surfaced online showed an Israeli military helicopter operating near the pier during the operation.
Aid groups have denounced the US construction of the pier as a public relations stunt since the US could have instead pressured Israel to open more land border crossings, which is by far the most efficient way to get aid into Gaza.
