US begins construction of emergency pier for humanitarian deliveries to Gaza

The US forces have started construction of a floating pier to deliver relief supplies to Gaza by sea. The question is whether this new supply line can avert an impending famine.

US military ships have begun construction of a floating platform and pier off the coast of Gaza. They should open a new lifeline for the residents of the area. The operation was announced in March by President Joe Biden, seeking to address growing criticism that his administration was doing too little to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe caused by Israeli military action in Gaza.

From the beginning, emphasis was placed on the fact that there was no American boots on the ground would come. According to plans announced by the Pentagon on Thursday, this will be solved by doing the construction entirely at sea, after which the pier will be towed towards the coast and anchored and connected there by Israeli troops.

In concrete terms, a large floating platform will be built about three kilometers off the coast on which goods will be unloaded from cargo ships coming from Cyprus, a distance of almost 500 kilometers. The goods are then transferred to smaller barges, which sail to a 500-meter-long pier just off the coast. Trucks then bring the relief supplies ashore.

The operation is based on techniques already applied during the Normandy landings in 1944 and used in humanitarian operations in Somalia, Kuwait, Haiti and Central America.

About a thousand American soldiers are involved at sea, spread over various naval vessels. On land, security is ensured by a full Israeli army brigade, also numbering around a thousand troops.

Some of these came under fire from Palestinian fighters on Wednesday, just as a UN delegation arrived to inspect the landing site. According to US military sources, there is a possibility that the mortar shells were not specifically intended to hit the landing site, but were aimed at Israeli forces that came within sight of the fighters.

A leader of the radical Hamas movement informed the American news agency AP this week that the organization would target all non-Palestinian troops, both on land and at sea.

According to the Pentagon, the emergency pier should be put into use at the beginning of May. Initially, 90 trucks with aid could come ashore every day, a number that should grow to 150. In this way, 2 million meals are delivered per day.

The route via the sea should offer an alternative to aid convoys on the road. These are difficult because Israel has closed most border crossings with Gaza and is very strict in the few customs posts that have remained open. The army only allows trucks to pass through sparsely. Western countries have therefore started airborne food drops, an operation that is inefficient, expensive and dangerous.

Aid organizations fear that deliveries by sea will not provide a solution to the humanitarian crisis. These goods will also have to pass through Israeli checkpoints upon their arrival in Gaza, even though they are already extensively screened by Israel upon departure in Cyprus.

NGOs point out that the most efficient way remains supply by road. A quick look at the map shows that the modern, perfectly functioning Israeli port of Ashdod is barely 35 kilometers north of Gaza.

Observers wonder why it is necessary to build a complex emergency military pier, when aid supplies can be entered into the Gaza Strip via a full-fledged port by simply making the border crossings more accessible.

There are therefore fears that the spectacular operation will bring little change to the fate of the residents of Gaza. According to the United Nations, there is a threat of famine in the area from the end of May.