It's expected to take up to two months and involve up to 1,000 U.S. servicemembers to construct a floating pier for delivering critical humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea, according to the top spokesperson for the Pentagon.
The Defense Department plans to use Navy and Army personnel to quickly build a temporary pier off the shore of Gaza to deliver aid, as Press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters.
The Defense Department estimates that over 1,000 U.S. forces will be needed to help construct the pier, taking several weeks or up to 60 days to deploy the forces and build the causeway and the pier.
The pier offshore enables shipping vessels to transfer cargo to smaller vessels to transport and offload cargo to a temporary causeway for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. It's emphasized that there will be no U.S. military personnel on the ground in the enclave.
The plan involves the presence of U.S. military personnel on military vessels offshore but not onshore, with coordination with other nations to operate the causeway and distribute aid into Gaza during Israel's conflict with Palestinian militant group Hamas according to Ryder.
Ryder mentioned Cyprus as one of the locations where aid could be loaded onto ships and then taken to the floating pier.
Elements of the Seventh Transportation Brigade Expeditionary from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., have been identified by the Pentagon to help build the expected 1,800-foot long, two-lane pier and causeway, with no cost estimate available yet.
Once built, the pier could potentially provide over two million meals to Gaza citizens per day.
The details provide insight into how a maritime corridor will be used to deliver essential humanitarian aid to Gaza as millions face starvation.
Biden had announced the pier in his annual State of the Union address Thursday night, and later told reporters Friday that the Israelis would provide security for the port. He has also pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow more aid into Gaza.
The president, who is frustrated with Netanyahu's reluctance to allow more assistance into the territory, was overheard on a hot microphone saying that he told his counterpart that they will need to have a “come-to-Jesus meeting.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to conduct airdrops of aid into Gaza, with the latest being on Friday when over 11,500 meal equivalents were dropped by Washington and Jordan.
The Pentagon has carried out around 124,000 meal drops over the past week, but this method is considered inefficient, expensive, and dangerous. A malfunction during an aid drop on Friday resulted in five deaths and 10 injuries in Gaza. Ryder stated that the U.S. airdrops in the area did not cause harm to civilians. “Reports that U.S. airdrops caused civilian casualties are not true. We have confirmed that all our aid packages landed safely,” he stated.
A temporary pier that will be used to deliver crucial humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea is expected to take up to two months to build and will need around 1,000 U.S. servicemembers to finish, the top spokesperson of the Pentagon said on Friday. The Defense Department will carry out this urgent task to set up a temporary pier off the coast…
“Press reports that U.S. airdrops resulted in civilian casualties on the ground are false, as we’ve confirmed that all of our aid bundles landed safely on the ground,” he claimed.
