US troops to remove Gaza pier for weather concerns yet again

The U.S. military is once again detaching the Gaza pier due to inclement weather, and there's no clear timeline for when it will be back.

United States Central Command has removed the pier from its "anchored position in Gaza and will tow it back to Ashdod, Israel," deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Friday, due to "high sea states expected this weekend."

"I don't have a date of when the pier would be reinstalled," she acknowledged, adding, "As of right now, the intention is to continue to get aid into Gaza by any means necessary. That includes the pier, airdrops, and, of course, as we've always said, with the pier, it's meant to be temporary."

The pier has been removed several times since it became operational after it was damaged by high sea levels in the early stages after it was built. Now the Pentagon has decided it is smarter to remove the pier before those moments of high sea levels to ensure it does not get damaged — that way, it's offline for a shorter period of time than if it were to sustain damages and need repairs.

Aid that has come into Gaza via the pier is stored in a marshaling area right along the Gaza coast. The U.S. is not involved in the actual distribution of the aid. Rather, that's left to the United Nations and other nonprofit humanitarian organizations.

But the aid has largely not been delivered for much of this month as the aid groups have been concerned about getting caught in the war's crossfire. United Nations, U.S., and Israeli officials met this week to discuss restarting the distribution of aid, according to NBC News .

The marshaling area is filling up, given the aid that's now there isn't being distributed.

"If there's not enough room on the marshaling yard, then it doesn't make sense to put our men and women out there," Singh said. "When there's nothing to move, there is still room. I don't want to give the impression that it's at capacity. It is certainly full, but we do need to see that marshaling yard open up to allow for aid groups to continue that distribution so that we can get more aid in as we get it from Cyprus."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Since becoming operational in mid-May, U.S. forces have brought over more than 19 million pounds of aid, the deputy Pentagon press secretary said.

The pier was intended only to be a supplementary way to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, but it has been one of the most effective ways to do it.

“This pier has provided the second most volume of aid over all the other crossings in Gaza,” she said.