President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military to build a temporary pier in the Mediterranean Sea to provide another way to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, despite concerns expressed by some U.S. Agency for International Development staffers, according to a report from the group’s inspector general.
Biden announced his decision to order the construction of the pier in his State of the Union address in March to increase the amount of humanitarian aid that was getting into Gaza and into the hands of Palestinian civilians in need. But, he made that decision despite USAID staff members expressing “concerns” that doing so would “detract from the Agency’s advocacy for opening land crossings, which were seen as more efficient and proven methods of transporting aid into Gaza,” according to the new report released this week.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters in June that “it is well established and very well known that the land crossings offer the highest capacity for delivery of aid to the people. The temporary pier is additive in this nature, although, as I’ve pointed out, it is certainly important.”
The United States aimed to get enough food through the pier to feed 500,000 people per month for three months, but due to various factors, they were only able to deliver enough food to feed about 450,000 people for one month. The mission was only expected to last three months due to the conditions of the Mediterranean Sea, but rough seas and high winds began earlier than expected.
The pier was only operational for about 20 days between mid-May and mid-July. It was initially damaged during inclement weather requiring days of repair, and then the military decided it would be better off deconstructing it and bringing it ashore to avoid damage during bad weather.
“From the start, rough weather posed a major challenge to the success of JLOTS operations.
DoD guidance on the temporary pier stated its usage was weather-dependent and that it could
not operate in conditions beyond what is known as sea state 3, or short and moderate waves,” according to the report. “However, the Mediterranean Sea is often at sea state 4 with significant winds and waves.”
There were also security concerns from the World Food Programme, which was responsible for the distribution of aid, about deconflicting its movements with Israeli forces to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. The partnership ended in July.
The administration defended its decision to pursue the pier mission given the dire needs of Palestinians in Gaza affected by the war. Ninety-six percent of the population in Gaza faces severe food insecurity and is at a high risk of famine, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
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“The bottom line is that given how dire the humanitarian situation in Gaza is, the United States has left no stone unturned in our efforts to get more aid in, and the pier played a key role at a critical time in advancing that goal,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement.
Biden lamented in July that he has been “disappointed that some of the things that I put forward have not succeeded as well — like the port we attached from Cyprus,” adding, “I was hopeful that would be more successful.”
