A US Army soldier who was injured earlier this year while working on the US-constructed temporary pier off Gaza has died due to his wounds, CNN reported on Monday.
Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, 23, was one of three US soldiers injured while working on the pier in May. At the time, the Pentagon said two suffered very minor injuries while the other was hurt severely enough to be evacuated for medical care.
The Pentagon insisted the injuries were “non-combat” related but didn’t share any details about the incident. It’s unclear what kind of injury Stanley suffered, but he was medically retired from the Army since he could no longer perform his job.
The US Army told CNN that Stanley died on October 31. “Stanley was injured while supporting the mission that delivered humanitarian aid to Gaza in May 2024 and was receiving treatment in long-term care medical center,” an Army spokesman said.
The Gaza pier failed to bring any relief to the Palestinians and only operated for about 20 days. It was repeatedly knocked out by weather since it was unable to handle the conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
When President Biden ordered the construction of the pier during his State of the Union address back in March, aid groups dismissed it as a public relations stunt since it would have been far more efficient to send more aid trucks through land crossings. But Biden refused to pressure Israel to allow more aid into the Strip.
According to a report from the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Inspector General, Biden ordered the construction of the pier despite warnings from USAID that it would undermine efforts to pressure Israel to allow more aid into Gaza via land crossings. The report also said that the Pentagon was aware that operating the pier in the Eastern Mediterranean would be difficult since the sea conditions were often heavier than what it could handle.
The pier cost US taxpayers at least $230 million. At one point, it was broken apart by waves and had to be repaired for $22 million.
