The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that a pier built by the U.S. military off the coast of Gaza is being temporarily removed due to a section of the structure breaking off.
This setback is another blow to the ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
The construction of the pier was initially announced by U.S. President Joe Biden in March. It involved the military assembling a floating structure off the coast, with an estimated cost of $320 million for the first 90 days and the involvement of approximately 1,000 U.S. service members. The pier became operational two weeks ago.
According to Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, a portion of the pier has become separated, and it will be towed to Ashdod port in Israel for repairs within the next 48 hours. Singh mentioned that the repair process is expected to take over a week, after which the pier will be returned to its original location off the coast of Gaza.
Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. officials, who preferred to remain anonymous, informed Reuters that bad weather is believed to be the cause of the section of the pier breaking off.
Since the pier became operational, the United Nations has utilized it to transport 137 trucks of aid, equivalent to 900 metric tons, as stated by a spokesperson from the U.N. World Food Programme.
