US-built pier in Gaza facing latest challenge — will UN keep delivering aid

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Edith M. Lederer The Associated Press

2 weeks ago

FILE - This image provided by the U.S. Army shows trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the ... — FILE – This image provided by the U.S. Army shows trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates and the United States Agency for International Development cross the Trident Pier before arriving on the beach on the Gaza Strip, May 17, 2024. The U.S.-built pier to bring food to Gaza is facing one of its most serious challenges yet. The United Nations is deciding if it can keep safely delivering supplies from the U.S. sea route to starving Palestinians (Staff Sgt. Malcolm Cohens-Ashley/U.S. Army via AP, File)

FILE – The image provided by U.S, Central Command, shows U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, and Israel Defense Forces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza Strip on May 16, 2024. A key section of the U.S. military-built pier designed to carry badly needed aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the Gaza beach following storm damage repairs and aid will begin to flow soon, the U.S. Central Command announced Friday. (U.S. Central Command via AP)

FILE – A U.S. Army landing craft is seen beached in Ashdod, May 26, 2024, after being swept by wind and current from the temporary humanitarian pier in the Gaza Strip. A key section of the U.S. military-built pier designed to carry badly needed aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the Gaza beach following storm damage repairs and aid will begin to flow soon, the U.S. Central Command announced Friday. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

In this photo provided by U.S. Central Command, humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza, Saturday, June 8, 2024. (U.S. Central Command via AP)

WASHINGTON — The U.S.-built aid pier will be detached from Gaza’s coast for a second time due to rough seas, two U.S. officials said Friday, raising further questions about the viability of the sea route.

The military would move the pier late Friday and into Saturday to prevent it from breaking apart as it did late last month in bad weather, the two officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military planning. The officials expect the pier will be back in place and operating again by next week.

The $230 million project has been beset by security, logistical and other problems since aid first rolled ashore May 17.

Although aid has been unloaded in a secure area onshore for several days, humanitarian agencies have stopped picking up and distributing it throughout Gaza.

The U.N. is weighing whether it can safely and ethically keep delivering supplies from the pier, after Israeli forces used the area near the pier to evacuate hostages and a wounded commando, according to the U.S. and Israeli militaries, during last week’s operation.

Rushing out a mortally wounded Israeli commando after the raid, Israeli rescuers opted against returning the way they came, across a land border, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters. Instead, they sped toward the beach and the site of the U.S. aid hub on Gaza’s coast, he said. An Israeli helicopter touched down near the U.S.-built pier and helped whisk away hostages and the commando, according to the U.S. and Israeli militaries.

President Joe Biden said Thursday he doesn’t expect to seal a Gaza cease-fire deal in the near future, as an American-backed proposal with global support has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas terrorists.

Israel launched the war after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.

The ensuing war has killed more than 37,100 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.