Time may be running out on US temporary pier to Gaza

Washington — The temporary pier set up to deliver needed humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza may have already made its last delivery.

U.S. defense officials Friday said that no date has been set to re-anchor the pier after an attempt to connect it to the Gaza shore on Wednesday failed due to a combination of technical issues and bad weather.

"It's something that we are assessing day by day," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.

"We know for the next few days there are going to be higher sea states that would not allow a re-anchoring to be possible," she said. "I just don't have more information to provide on when and if a re-anchoring date has been or will be possible, if a re-anchoring does happen."

The temporary pier, also known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, has been sitting at the Israeli port of Ashdod since late last month due to bad weather and rough seas.

Despite weather and technical issues, the Pentagon credits the temporary pier with helping to deliver more than 8,000 metric tons of aid from the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus to Gaza since operations began in mid-May.

"We're very proud of our service members and all those supporting this effort and who have enabled vital humanitarian assistance to get into those in Gaza who need it most," Singh said. "Without a doubt, lives have been saved because of their work and commitment under very challenging conditions."

Still, the effort to get aid into Gaza using the temporary pier has generated some criticism, with delivery of the aid to civilians hampered by fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group.

The United Nations suspended delivery of aid coming over the pier on June 9, following an Israeli hostage rescue operation that killed more than 270 Palestinians, pointing to a danger to its staff.

Israel and the United States denied allegations that the pier was used during the rescue operation, but U.N. officials voiced concerns that even the perception that the pier was involved could endanger their humanitarian mission.

As a result, much of the aid was stuck at a staging area on the beach, failing to get to hundreds of thousands of Gazans facing what humanitarian groups have described as a food emergency.

There are also questions about what will happen to additional aid still sitting in Cyprus or on U.S. ships waiting to be taken into Gaza.

The Pentagon said Friday if the pier does not resume operations, it will find other ways to get aid into Gaza.

"What we are committed to is making sure that every single piece of aid, metric ton of aid, that is in Cyprus is moved into Gaza," Singh said.

One option, according to the Pentagon, would be to get use the port of Ashdod, a delivery method Singh said is in a "proof-of-concept stage right now."

Singh also said there would be ongoing coordination with the Israeli government on other ways to expand aid delivery.

Pentagon officials have repeatedly portrayed the effort to deliver aid via the pier as a temporary solution to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and have characterized the mission as a success even though it has been in operation for a total of only about 20 days due to weather and technical issues.

"[The pier] has enabled the development of Cyprus as a port for inspections and deliveries directly into Gaza," Singh said.

"The deployment of this pier has also helped secure Israeli commitment to opening additional crossings into northern Gaza," she said. "Since the opening of these crossings, we've seen more trucks moving from Jordan directly into northern Gaza to help alleviate the dire humanitarian conditions."

The pier was first shut down in late May due to storms, just days after it began operation.

Deliveries resumed on June 8. But U.S. Central Command again detached the pier in late June to prevent expected rough seas from causing fresh damage.