US sea route for Gaza aid isn't working, say Pentagon and UN

Amanda Goh
Updated ·3 min read
40

  • Little of the aid unloaded at the US's temporary pier in Gaza has reached people in need.

  • Deliveries had to be suspended for two days after the trucks were intercepted by a crowd, reports say.

  • The entire project is estimated to cost $320 million, and the pier was only installed on Thursday.

The $320 million pier project to deliver aid to Gaza has yet to connect goods with the people who need them.

Gaza's 2.2 million residents face monthslong food shortages that have exacerbated already-poor health in the region. Humanitarian-aid groups have criticized Israel for not letting enough aid trucks into Gaza, keeping critical crossings closed, and creating logistical hurdles.

Israel has denied the accusations and has blamed the UN for failing to distribute aid, which the UN disputes.

The Pentagon's press secretary, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, said on Tuesday that the goods unloaded on the temporary pier built by the US off the coast of Gaza hadn't reached those in need, according to CNN.

And the UN World Food Program said on Tuesday that this entire project might eventually be a failure if Israel doesn't create conditions for aid groups to carry out their operations safely, per the Associated Press.

Over the weekend, trucks carrying aid from the pier were intercepted by a crowd, CNN reported.

"I don't understand this floating pier or what it indicates and what its purpose is," Mounir Ayad, a Gaza resident, told CNN near the pier. "They say it's for aid, but people are apprehensive. Is this aid or something else? We know that the US has never supported the Palestinian cause, so it's implausible that it's giving us aid without something in return."

Steve Taravella, a WFP spokesperson, told the AP that only five of 16 aid trucks leaving the pier on Saturday arrived at the warehouse with their cargo.

As a result, the deliveries had to be paused on Sunday and Monday, the WFP said.

Although the Pentagon said aid transportation resumed on Tuesday, the UN said that it had no knowledge of any deliveries taking place on that day, according to the AP.

The temporary pier was only anchored on a beach in Gaza on Thursday, which the US Central Command announced in a statement on its website.

Ryder said that as of Tuesday, 569 metric tons of aid had been delivered to the Gaza port.

The Pentagon previously said the goal was to deliver at least 500 tons — about 90 trucks' worth — of humanitarian assistance into Gaza daily before scaling up to 150 trucks a day.

The US Army had deployed some of its biggest ships to help build the pier as part of its efforts to better support civilians amid the conflict.

Countries including the US have also dropped food in parachutes. In March, five children in Gaza were killed by an aid parcel with a malfunctioning parachute.

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