Brian McDonald
The US military on Wednesday began placing the pieces of a temporary pier which will be used to transport humanitarian aid from the Mediterranean Sea to Gaza, according to defense officials.
“Earlier today, components of the temporary pier that make up our Joint Over-the-Shore Logistics capability, along with military vessels involved in its construction, began moving from the Port of Ashdod towards Gaza, where it will be anchored on the beach to help deliver international humanitarian aid,” a defense official told CBS News. Israel’s port of Ashdod is about 10 miles north of Gaza.
Construction of the two pieces, the floating platform and the bridge, was completed last week, but weather conditions delayed the final movement. With the pieces already in place, the temporary pier could be operational in the coming days and as early as Thursday, according to a defense official.
Gaza’s need for more food and supplies has only increased in recent weeks as Israel appears ready to launch a major offensive against the southern city of Rafah. USAID Response Director Daniel Dieckhaus said 450,000 Gazans have fled Rafah since May 6.
“Humanitarian actors are facing significant challenges in getting aid to Rafah, given the closure of critical border crossings, as well as in accessing warehouses and distributing aid due to the deteriorating situation,” Dieckhaus told journalists on Wednesday.
Department of Defense
The Biden administration has said the corridor will increase the amount of aid coming in, but the dock is not intended to replace road entry points, which are much more efficient at bringing aid in quickly.
The flow of aid through the corridor is expected to begin in Cyprus, where it will be inspected and loaded onto ships that will travel about 200 miles to the floating platform in the Eastern Mediterranean. Once it arrives, the aid will be transferred by US military ships to the bridge attached to the Gaza coast. From there, trucks driven by third parties – not US troops – will take aid to Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces, according to to the Pentagonare providing security at the beachhead and the United Nations is coordinating the delivery of supplies to people in Gaza.
Initially, the corridor is expected to deliver about 90 aid trucks per day, increasing to 150 per day when it reaches full capacity, defense officials said at a briefing late last month.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters there are hundreds of tons of aid ready to be delivered once the corridor is up and running, and thousands of tons in the pipeline.
The Pentagon estimates the cost of the corridor to be around $320 million.
President Biden announced the maritime corridor during his State of the Union address in March. After pledging to provide a pier, he said: “To Israel’s leadership I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives must be a priority.”
Biden said no US troops will set foot in Gaza. There are about 1,000 U.S. military personnel dedicated to operating the offshore shipping corridor.
