According to NBC News, the Biden administration is considering alternative ways to deliver aid to Gaza after the floating dock initiative largely failed.
The jetty was built by the U.S. military in mid-May to deliver aid to the Palestinians via a maritime corridor in the Mediterranean, but with the jetty system plagued by problems and facing early closure, the administration is now considering other options for delivering aid to Gaza, including building a replacement jetty. according to To NBC and The Wall Street Journal. (Related: Biden administration reportedly despairs of Israel-Hamas ceasefire happening anytime soon as 2024 elections loom)
The second pier system could be built by Fogbow, a private company led by former military personnel and UN officials, who say they could replace the existing piers with better, more stable ones within weeks, according to NBC.
A U.S. soldier stands on a stranded U.S. warship on the shore of the Israeli coastal city of Ashdod on May 25, 2024. The U.S. military said four of its ships had run aground in rough seas while supporting a temporary pier built to deliver aid by sea to Gaza. (Photo by OREN ZIV/AFP via Getty Images)
According to NBC, Fogbow plans to build a mobile pier that will be anchored to Gaza’s coast and use a crane system to deliver aid directly to the beaches, which differs from the Biden administration’s system, which uses two piers, one anchored to the coast and one floating offshore, and uses trucks and boats to deliver aid, according to the WSJ.
According to NBC, Israeli and US officials have been briefed on the Fogbow plans, but officials said there are no current plans to test it.
“The maritime corridor is a key component in alleviating the suffering,” Fogbow Vice President Mick Mulroy told NBC. “Aid could certainly arrive through Ashdod and then be transported by truck to Gaza, but as we have already seen, doing so creates additional challenges. This route highlights the need for continued access to multiple land and maritime routes.”
Palestinians rush trucks carrying international humanitarian aid from the US-built Trident Pier near Nuseira in the central Gaza Strip on May 18, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas continues. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
According to NBC, the Ashdod route Mulroy was referring to is an Israeli port that the Biden administration plans to use to deliver aid to Gaza by truck.
The new plans come amid a series of problems facing the pier, jeopardizing its operations and hindering aid deliveries to Gaza. President Joe Biden only shared his vision for the pier with the Pentagon just days before the official announcement, leaving defense officials scrambling to get it built less than two months later.
The WSJ reported that the hastily constructed pier was not designed for use in the choppy waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and the US military has often had to temporarily close it until sea conditions improved. In late May, a series of bad weather events caused the pier to collapse, forcing the military to tow it north for repairs.
US officials have reportedly warned aid groups on the ground in Gaza that the pier could be permanently closed within the next few weeks, much sooner than the planned September date. according to In The New York Times.
“This has been a hopelessly and dangerously stupid idea from the beginning,” former assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, Simone Ledeen, previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It’s a huge waste of human and financial resources.”
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