Gaza pier suspended again
A US-built floating pier made for delivering aid to Gaza by sea has once again been dismantled due to expected high seas, the Pentagon said.
The pier was removed from its anchored position in Gaza and would be towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary said.
“As always, the safety of our service members is a top priority, and temporarily relocating the pier will prevent potential structural damage that could be caused by the heightened sea state,” she said.
The pier was announced by President Biden in his March State of the Union address as part of a broader effort by his administration to get food and other lifesaving aid to starving Gazans as the humanitarian situation worsens and the enclave remains largely sealed off.
Another hurdle to aid delivery has been the suspension of operations by the United Nations’ World Food Program, partly responsible for the distribution of aid arriving from the pier, after an Israeli hostage rescue operation on June 8 freed four hostages and left more than 250 Palestinians dead. WFP spokesman Steve Taravella told the Associated Press on Friday that UN participation in the pier is still on pause pending the resolution of security concerns.
It comes as the United Nations warned that “access constraints - coupled with insecurity and ongoing hostilities continue to significantly impede the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance and services across Gaza”.
The UN said “at least 60,000 people” had been displaced from the Shejaiya area east of Gaza City.
A doctor at northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, roughly four miles from Shejaiya, said that his facility was receiving some of the casualties from the fighting. The electricity is out and the hospital is running on solar power, the doctor, Marwan al-Sultan, said, adding that they have very few resources to treat complex injuries.
“Supplies are exhausted and the medical staff have reached their limit,” he said.
Washington Post