Gaza pier construction completed, weather delays operations launch
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The Pentagon's press secretary says that bad weather has prevented moving the pier to its position off the coast of Gaza.
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The maritime pier being built by the US military off the coast of the Gaza Strip, in an image released on April 29, 2024 (CENTCOM)
The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that the construction of the Gaza offshore pier by the US military has been completed. However, due to weather conditions, it is currently deemed unsafe to relocate the two-part facility.
"As of today, the construction of the two portions of the JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore) – the floating pier and the Trident pier – are complete and awaiting final movement offshore," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a press conference.
Read more: PFLP warns of suspicious US plan for Gaza pier
"Today there are still forecasted high winds and high sea swells, which are causing unsafe conditions for the JLOTS components to be moved. So the pier sections and military vessels involved in its construction are still positioned at the port of Ashdod," Singh added.
US Central Command CENTCOM "stands by to move the pier into position in the near future."
The vessels and the under-construction pier were moved to an Israeli port due to bad weather last week. Once the weather clears, it will be anchored to the Gaza shore by Israeli soldiers to keep US troops off the ground.
IOF to anchor pier to Gaza shore once weather improves
Last week, adverse weather conditions necessitated the relocation of the vessels and the pier under construction to Ashdod Port. Israeli occupation soldiers will anchor the pier to the Gaza shore once the weather improves to keep US soldiers off Gaza ground.
The facility will consist of an offshore platform for the transfer of aid from larger to smaller vessels, and a pier to bring it ashore.
The Israeli occupation has been imposing a siege on Gaza since last October. Food, medicine, fuel, and water, among other basic necessities, were fully blocked from entering the Strip by the occupation, which only allowed insufficient portions to be delivered to the 2.2 million population later following massive global pressure.
Read more: UN experts warn US Gaza aid pier to facilitate Rafah invasion
The World Food Program (WFP) sounded the alarm earlier this week that Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip are experiencing "full-blown famine," warning that the famine is moving south. The statement came before the occupation shut down the Karem Abu Salem crossing in southern Gaza, and later the Rafah crossing after invading the city sheltering over 1.4 million people late Tuesday.
Plans for the piers were first announced by US President Joe Biden in early March as the Israeli occupation forces held up much-needed aid deliveries by ground.
US officials claimed the process would not involve "boots on the ground" in Gaza, but American troops would come close to the besieged territory as they construct the pier.
