US defense official confirms Gaza pier is bringing aid ashore

By Lolita C. Baldor and Ellen Knickmeyer The Associated Press

6 months ago

FILE - This image provided by U.S. Central Command, shows the U.S.-built floating pier being us ... — FILE – This image provided by U.S. Central Command, shows the U.S.-built floating pier being used to facilitate aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, May 16, 2024. U.S. officials said Friday, June 14, 2024, that the pier will be detached from Gaza’s coast for the second time in a month due to rough seas, raising questions about the viability of the sea route. (U.S. Central Command via AP, File)

FILE – This image provided by the U.S. Army shows trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates and the United States Agency for International Development cross the Trident Pier before arriving on the beach on the Gaza Strip, May 17, 2024. The U.S.-built pier to bring food to Gaza is facing one of its most serious challenges yet. The United Nations is deciding if it can keep safely delivering supplies from the U.S. sea route to starving Palestinians (Staff Sgt. Malcolm Cohens-Ashley/U.S. Army via AP, File)

The U.S. military-built pier in Gaza was unloading humanitarian aid again Thursday after being removed for a second time last week because of rough seas, a U.S. defense official said.

The pier was reattached to Gaza’s shoreline on Wednesday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. military operations.

The pier, which cost the U.S. at least $230 million, was meant to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza via the U.N.’s World Food Program. It has faced a number of setbacks, operating for only about a week before getting blown apart by high winds in May. The U.S. military detached the floating causeway and moved it to an Israeli port last week so it wouldn’t break apart again.

The United Nations says it is still assessing whether it’s safe for staff to participate in delivering humanitarian aid from the U.S.-built pier, which means no aid is being transported from the beach to U.N. warehouses.

There is currently no timeline for completing the assessment, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Thursday. If the U.N. Department of Safety and Security decides the U.N. can resume operations, “then the World Food Program stands ready to do so based on its core principles.”

These core principles — U.N. neutrality and independence in humanitarian activities — were called into question during Israel’s June 8 hostage rescue. An Israeli helicopter touched down near the U.S.-built pier and helped whisk away the hostages and an injured Israeli commando, according to the U.S. and Israeli militaries.

Both forces deny the pier was used, saying the helicopter landed an unspecified distance south of the causeway.

The U.N. also hasn’t been able to deliver aid using a new route in southern Gaza the Israeli military said it would secure during “tactical pauses,” Haq said.

Fighting may have decreased on the route from the Kerem Shalom crossing to Gaza’s main north-south Salah al-Din road, he said, but there are other impediments and “the lack of public order and safety is a major obstacle and requires concerted efforts and concrete measures to find a solution.”