US Gaza pier spent more time being fixed than used: Newsweek
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The Pentagon claims the US restarted assistance delivery through the pier on Thursday after removing it for the second time on June 14 due to inclement weather.
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US soldiers and sailors attached to the MV Roy P. Benavidez assemble the floating pier, off the shore of Gaza, Palestine, in the Mediterranean Sea on April 26, 2024. (AP)
The $230 million floating pier linked to the shore of Gaza, a crucial component of President Joe Biden's strategy to allegedly assist Palestinians during the war on Gaza, has spent more time out of service than operational, Newsweek reported. Since its inception on May 17, the pier has only been active for 12 out of 38 days.
Initially set up by US military personnel on May 17, the pier was meant to significantly ease the delivery of aid to Gaza's starving population. However, high waves dislodged the pier just over a week after its deployment, halting aid deliveries.
In actuality, just a few dollops have landed in Gaza. During the limited period the dock was operational before the storm, roughly 27 trucks departed per day, with plans for 150, knowing that the Gaza Strip needed at least 600 per day to avoid famine.
The Pentagon reported that the US restarted assistance delivery through the pier on Thursday after removing it for the second time on June 14 due to inclement weather. After breaking apart in severe waves, the pier was dismantled and transported to the Israeli port of Ashdod for reconstruction.
Pallets of food and medication arriving by sea have built up on the beach on many of its active days due to a lack of vehicles needed to transport the supplies to warehouses around the Gaza Strip. Some officials have questioned the project's feasibility in these circumstances.
Dr. Hanan Balkhy, chief of the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean area, told the Associated Press on Monday that the pier "has supported a little bit, but it's not on the scale that is needed by any stretch of the imagination."
She stressed the need for land routes, the majority of which are still closed by the Israeli occupation for the effective and adequate delivery of supplies to people hiding in Gaza.
Andreas Kluth formerly referred to the pier as the most tangible image of "American fecklessness."
Kluth wrote in Bloomberg that Biden has been unable to improve the situation during the past three months and has not used "the full power of the Oval Office" to constrain or direct the Israeli government.
US pier a 'lie', 'conspiracy' that exposed US intentions: Media Office
The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza has announced that medical evacuations have been blocked, noting that 25,000 injured Palestinians have been denied travel for critical medical treatment after the Rafah crossing was burned down and taken over by Israeli occupation forces.
Similarly, since the occupation of the Rafah border crossing, humanitarian aid has been halted with 15,000 trucks carrying essential supplies stranded at the Egyptian side of the border crossing as their entry continues to be blocked by Israeli occupation forces. This blockade is significantly worsening the famine in the Gaza Strip, which has reached critical levels in Gaza City and the northern portion of the Strip.
The director of the Government Media Office in Gaza further highlighted in a press conference that the situation is particularly dire in the northern regions, where the floating pier, purportedly established to aid the situation, has failed to mitigate the worsening famine. In fact, added the director, the pier was used during the Nuseirat massacre, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries.
This Israeli-imposed famine threatens to increase the death toll, with the Government Media Office warning that the specter of famine looms larger by the day.
In conclusion, the director of the Government Media Office in Gaza reaffirmed that the famine is worsening dangerously in the Gaza Strip, highlighting that the burning and bulldozing of the Rafah crossing must serve as evidence of the Israeli occupation's genocidal intent.
Reports have surfaced suggesting that the Biden administration plans to dismantle the pier completely in early July following its failure to make a meaningful impact on Gaza's dire humanitarian situation.
