(RepublicanReport.org) – In April, the Pentagon stated that a US Navy ship, Army vessels, and others would be working together to build a floating platform to help deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The cost of the US-led project was projected to be at least $320 million. The next month, the peer fell apart from heavy damage from the sea and was taken apart for repairs.
Recently, a US official told CBS News that the United States decided to dismantle the Gaza pier permanently. The structure, currently sitting at a port in Israel, won’t be reattached to the Gaza shore, as reportedly recommended by US Central Command. The pier was only in operation for 20 days and delivered 20 million pounds of aid in that time. While the project was supposed to cost $320 million, the estimated cost of constructing and operating the pier was around $230 million.
Although the mission was always supposed to be temporary, it appears to have been cut even shorter due to weather conditions in the Mediterranean. Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder didn’t give a date for the end of the mission but noted it would “conclude…soon.” The transfer of aid moved from Cyprus to US military ships, then to the peer and into Gaza. The weather in the region is typically workable from May through August.
Former USAID official Jeremy Konyndyk previously called the pier “humanitarian theater” and a “gimmick,” while others argued that delivering food and water to civilians in Gaza was helpful. Several Republicans in Congress agreed with Konyndyk, saying it was nothing more than a political stunt by the president. Senate Armed Services Committee member Senator Roger Wicker called the project a “national embarrassment,” adding that it was “doomed from the start.”
President Joe Biden said he was “disappointed” and was hoping for more success out of the project.
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