US military’s pier in Gaza has been reattached to beach after being dismantled for the second time

By Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand, CNN

(CNN) — The US military’s temporary pier has been reanchored to the Gaza coast, two US officials told CNN, several days after it was dismantled for a second time due to high seas and weather conditions.

This is the second time the pier has had to be reattached to the beach: the first time after it was damaged in heavy seas, and now after it was detached in anticipation of severe weather that could have damaged it again.

CNN previously reported that conversation around a maritime corridor to bring aid into Gaza began near the end of October, following Hamas’ invasion of Israel and the resulting offensive by Israeli forces in Gaza. The White House began exploring options including the feasibility of the temporary pier, which was deemed too risky at the time due to the weather conditions at that time of year and ongoing IDF operations.

The idea was revisited in January and February as the need for humanitarian aid in Gaza became more dire.

The pier was officially announced in March by President Joe Biden, who said in his State of the Union address that he was directing the military to build a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza. Within days, US Army watercraft had departed the US.

The US began constructing the pier and causeway in April, and it began operating on May 17. Just a week later, however, operations were stalled due to weather; two days after that, high seas resulted in the pier breaking apart.

Four US Army vessels supporting the pier were beached as a result of the weather conditions, which officials said was unprecedented for that time of year. It took more than two weeks for one such vessel to be recovered on the Gaza beach.

The pier was towed back to Ashdod for repairs, and more than a week later was reattached to the beach on June 7. One week later on June 14, the US said it would be temporarily dismantling the pier once again and moving it back to Israel in anticipation of heavy seas, to avoid it sustaining more damage.

“The decision to temporarily relocate the pier is not made lightly but is necessary to ensure the temporary pier can continue to deliver aid in the future,” a statement from US Central Command said.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday that since the pier was originally anchored on May 17, it has delivered more than 3,500 metric tons of aid to Gaza; roughly 2,500 metric tons of aid were delivered after it was reanchored on June 7.

“We remain committed to working with the international community to get aid into Gaza as quickly as possible,” Singh said.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.