A temporary pier built by the U.S. to deliver humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians in Gaza will be removed for repairs after sustaining damage from rough seas and weather, according to the Pentagon. The pier, which has been in operation for just two weeks, is crucial in providing food, water, and supplies to Palestinians on the brink of famine due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The repairs are expected to take at least over a week, with the pier needing to be anchored back into the beach in Gaza once completed. This setback comes after the pier had already experienced three U.S. service members injured and four vessels beached due to heavy seas. Additionally, aid deliveries were briefly halted last week after a Palestinian man was shot dead when crowds rushed aid trucks from the pier.
While the pier had been functioning well and had already delivered over 820 metric tons of food aid to Gaza, U.S. officials acknowledge that it is not enough to meet the needs of the population. They have called for more open land crossings for humanitarian trucks and have planned to continue airdrops of food to supplement the aid efforts.
The situation is further complicated by the deepening Israeli offensive in the city of Rafah, which has made it difficult for aid shipments to pass through the crossing there. Although Israel claims to be bringing aid through another border crossing, Kerem Shalom, humanitarian organizations report challenges in retrieving the aid for distribution due to ongoing military operations.
Overall, the temporary pier's damage and subsequent repairs highlight the challenges in providing much-needed aid to Gaza amid the conflict and the urgent need for sustainable solutions to address the humanitarian crisis in the region.