Two Months After Construction, The Floating Gaza Aid Pier Will Cease To Exist

(PatriotPostNews.com) — A floating pier designed to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza will be permanently removed in the coming weeks, just two months after its construction.

The temporary port was initially set up as an effort by the United States military, which sought to curtail the suffering of Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The conflict, which has raged since October 2023, has sparked international controversy, particularly regarding what many leaders view as an avoidable humanitarian crisis.

Following a final shipment of aid into Cyprus, though, the pier is set to be shut down for good. The project cost $230 million and proved to be troublesome as soon as it was launched, even temporarily closing shortly after it began facilitating aid into the war-torn region. After being pulled away from Gaza in rough weather, the American government posted it at the Ashdod port in Israel due to inclement weather.

Since the launch of the soon-to-be-ending project, over 19.4 million pounds of aid have been sent into Gaza to ease the humanitarian crisis. Initially, the American military planned to run the floating pier for about three months since it was first opened in the middle of May. However, the weather complicated its effectiveness, and the risks posed to aid workers were underestimated.

News of the plan was originally anticipated in the wake of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in March. According to pre-construction plans, the pier was going to deliver temporary shelters, medicine, food, and water to people in Gaza. American troops were never intended to land in the Gaza Strip, officials said at the time.

Although initial operation was to be spearheaded by the United States military, the pier was reportedly expected to be a joint effort with other nations and organizations. The hope was to have hundreds of truckloads deliver aid each day. Roughly a thousand American servicemembers built the pier, beginning at the end of April.