Pentagon: Sea-borne aid deliveries to Gaza suspended after damage to US-built pier

WASHINGTON

The delivery of humanitarian aid by sea to the Gaza Strip has been suspended after the US-built floating pier was damaged by bad weather, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

“Due to high seas and the North African weather system, part of the Trident pier has become detached from the pier currently anchored on the Gaza coast this morning,” spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.

“As a result, the Trident Pier has been damaged and parts of the pier need to be rebuilt and repaired. Therefore, over the next 48 hours, the Trident Pier will be removed from its anchored position on the coast and towed back to Ashdod, where U.S. Central Command will carry out repairs,” she said.

Work on the pier will take at least a week and once completed, it will need to be re-anchored to Gaza’s shores so that humanitarian aid can resume “to those who need it most,” she added.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday that four US Army ships supporting the maritime humanitarian assistance mission in the Gaza Strip were affected by heavy seas.

US President Joe Biden ordered the establishment of a sea route in March to deliver food and other aid to the Palestinians despite Israeli restrictions and months of conflict in the enclave.

Israel’s nearly eight-month war against Gaza has claimed more than 36,000 lives and injured over 81,100 in the war-torn coastal enclave.

A Hamas-led cross-border attack that sparked the current conflict left fewer than 1,200 people dead and hundreds more taken hostage to Gaza.

The Israeli military campaign has reduced large parts of the enclave, which is home to 2.3 million people, to rubble. Most civilians are homeless and threatened by starvation.

At least 45 people were killed in Sunday’s attack, most of them women and children. The attack came despite an International Court of Justice ruling last week ordering Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge from the worsening conflict.

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