US Military Ends Controversial Mission of Floating Pier Off Gaza’s Coast

By Staff, Agencies

The US military has officially ended its mission involving a floating pier off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been criticized for facilitating an “Israeli” massacre rather than delivering aid to the besieged territory.

At a news briefing on Wednesday, Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of US Central Command [CENTCOM], stated that the water dock had “achieved its intended effect to surge a very high volume of aid into Gaza.”

He added, "The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete. So, there's no more need to use the pier."

US President Joe Biden announced the construction of the $230 million pier in March, which involved 1,000 US soldiers and sailors. However, bad weather delayed the initial installment of the maritime corridor, and it broke apart in late May.

Since then, the US military has moved the detached pier to the port of Ashdod. Consequently, the pier operated for only 25 days, delivering supplies equivalent to just a couple of days’ worth of aid that previously flowed into Gaza before “Israel’s” ongoing genocidal war.

Reports indicate that the pier facilitated the “Israeli” massacre at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which killed at least 274 people and wounded nearly 700 others on June 8.

Dave Harden, the ex-US aid director for the West Bank and Gaza, described the pier as “interesting in theory, but in practice, an absolute failure – and my concern is who will be held accountable?”

He added, “What we have not seen is a robust opening of the crossings… I think this goes first to the ‘Israelis,’ and second to the Americans. And in the meantime, the Gazans themselves continue to suffer. This was a tragedy compounding a tragedy."

President Biden expressed disappointment in the temporary water dock, saying, “I was hopeful that would be more successful.” Several congressmen also criticized the Gaza pier for its cost and potential risk to US troops.

The Gaza government condemned the US project as a publicity stunt “to beautify its ugly face.” Similarly, aid groups denounced the pier as a distraction, arguing that Washington should have pressured “Israel” to open Gaza crossings and allow humanitarian aid into the blockaded territory.

“The US wanted to show that it was doing something to aid the humanitarian effort, and yet it wasn’t successful in pushing ‘Israel’ to do the most obvious necessary thing — which is to allow full access via the land crossing, or allow access from ‘Israeli’ and West Bank markets,” said Tania Hary, the executive director of "Gisha", an “Israeli” group.

“So it put in this incredibly expensive, inefficient workaround that ended up proving to be a completely disastrous waste of money, and a colossal and embarrassing failure on top,” she added.

“Israel” launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, following a historic operation by the Hamas resistance group in retaliation for the entity’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the apartheid entity has martyred at least 38,794 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza and injured 89,166 others.