(RepublicanReport.org) – The Israel-Hamas war has been ongoing since the latter attacked the Jewish state in October, killing 1,200 people. Palestinians have fled their homes en masse as Israel bore down on Gaza, aiming to eradicate the militant group. In the midst of all of this, Israel cut off Palestinians from basic necessities, and they are experiencing a scarcity of resources, including food. To alleviate the impact, the United States announced its military would be building a temporary pier to help foster the delivery of humanitarian aid. That pier is now undergoing repairs after it sustained damage.
The Construction of the Pier
The US military undertook the task of constructing a pier that would allow transport vehicles to receive cargo by sea to help humanitarian aid reach the Palestinians in Gaza. The military built the $320 million structure and placed it in May. It became operational on May 17. Yet, several issues have mandated action.
Shortly after it opened, people looted trucks traveling to warehouses. It was so bad that the UN World Food Program had to suspend its operations. Then, bad weather moved in and rendered parts of the pier inoperable as it broke apart.
Weather Destroys Part of Pier
On Tuesday, May 28, the Pentagon announced that the pier required repairs. Deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the damage resulted from “a perfect storm of high sea states, and then … [a] North African weather system also came in at the same time.” However, she didn’t expect the pier to be out of operation long. She said that Army engineers were working on the section, which they had removed and transported to Ashdod, a city in Southern Israel, for repairs. They couldn’t make the repairs in Gaza because White House policies don’t allow US troops on the ground there.
Singh also made it clear that the pier was working to achieve its mission while it operated. She said that officials could deliver 1,000 metric tons of aid into the war-torn area, which proved its construction was a positive. Yet, there’s still the issue of getting the food into Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge after being pushed out of their homes.
The situation in Gaza remains dire. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue to push forward in their efforts to raid Rafah. A mishap where IDF targeted a Hamas compound just a few days ago led to at least 45 civilian deaths, most of which were children and the elderly.
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