U.S. troops begin construction of Gaza pier as famine looms

Palestinian men watch a maritime vessel that set sail from Larnaca in Cyprus carrying humanitarian aid approaches the coast of Gaza City, on March 15, 2024. On Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed construction of its temporary pier to bring aid to Gaza has begun.

April 26 (UPI) — The Pentagon said U.S. troops have begun construction of a pier in Gaza to be used to bring much needed humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave as famine looms.

“I can confirm that U.S. military vessels, to include the USNS Benavidez, have begun to construct the initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday.

A senior military official speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity said construction of the pier began Thursday and that they are on track for it to be used to delivery humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea from early next month.

Officials confirmed that it being constructed out at sea, away from the war in Gaza.

Once completed, the pier is to initially have a daily operating capacity of about 90 trucks worth of aid, with expectations that it will be scaled up to 150 trucks a day.

Prior to the war between Israel and Hamas, Gaza received about 500 trucks of aid daily.

But following Hamas’ bloody surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prohibited the import of anything into the enclave.

About two weeks later, Biden secured a diplomatic victory in getting one land crossing, the Rafah crossing, between Gaza and Egypt opened for aid to get in.

In December, the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and southern Gaza was opened.

Together, they remain the main two entries for aid into Gaza, though the United States and others have also taken to air dropping aid, and Israel has said it will open new routes.

And though the number of trucks entering the enclave has been increasing, with a high of 316 achieved on Monday, according to the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency, officials have been warning for months of an impending man-made famine.

“Given the scale and scope of the destruction, and the extent of human suffering, every day counts,” Sigrid Kaag, a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden first announced plans for the United States to build the pier in his March State of the Union address as the humanitarian situation worsened in Gaza amid the war.

The announcement was also made as the Biden administration began to voice frustration with Israel over the Palestinian death toll, which has since reached more than 34,000, and concern over the lack of humanitarian aid the Middle Eastern country was permitting into the country.

The senior military official speaking to reporters on Thursday said the maritime aid delivery corridor, once construction is completed, will see humanitarian aid transported by air and sea to Cyprus where it will be screened, palletized and prepared for delivery.

The pallets will then be loaded onto commercial ships that travel about 200 miles from Cyprus to a large floating platform anchored miles off the coast of Gaza. From there, they will be shuttled to Gaza with the use of the pier, the officials said.

“Since there are going to be no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza, we have accounted for all the tasks that a partner would have to perform to execute the mission,” the official said.

About 1,000 U.S. troops are participating in the mission.

The senior military official said they expected the mission to be executed for several months.