By Deutsche Welle
17 Jul 2024, 19:28 PM EDT
The United States has ended a troubled military mission aimed at delivering emergency humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave of Gaza via a temporary dock, a senior military official said Wednesday.
“The maritime reinforcement mission involving the pier has been completed, so there is no longer a need to use it,” Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of the U.S. military’s Middle East Command Center, told reporters.
The pier was damaged
US President Joe Biden had expressed disappointment with the performance of the pier, which repeatedly broke away from shore due to bad weather since its initial installation in mid-May. This significantly limited its operational lifespan.
The pier, which cost at least $320 million, was part of international efforts to circumvent land access restrictions to the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel, a close ally of Washington.
In May it was damaged by bad weather and had to be removed for repairs. It was then reassembled on 7 June, but was moved to the Israeli city of Ashdod on 14 June to protect it from the waves.
However, the distribution of humanitarian aid has also proved a problem, with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) suspending deliveries of aid arriving via the pier last month to assess the security situation after Israel carried out a controversial military operation in the area.
The Trident
The expensive floating dock built by the US military in Gaza only managed to deliver 3,500 tons of humanitarian aid.
That’s the equivalent of about 120 trucks, a figure that pales in comparison to the roughly 500 aid trucks that entered the Gaza Strip every day before the war, according to the UN.
The pier, which was named “Trident”, consists of a floating platform and walkway that are anchored to the beach and allow humanitarian aid arriving by boat from Cyprus to be unloaded and transported by truck to the coast.
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