After sections of the floating pier in Gaza washed away, a look at the repair process
A U.S.-built floating humanitarian aid pier in northern Gaza estimated to cost $320 million and only in operation for two weeks was damaged Tuesday in a combination of high seas and a storm that moved in from north Africa. Four vessels connected to the aid operation were also beached as far north as Ashkelon, Israel.
The pier has enabled the delivery of 1,000 tons of aid since it began operating May 17, according to Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary.
New satellite imagery released Wednesday by Maxar Technologies shows the pier Tuesday immediately after several of the pier sections were knocked loose, and the pier as it looked Saturday prior to the damage.
Another image captured May 29 shows the area after the sections were towed north to Israel for repairs.
The pier, built by roughly 1,000 U.S.service members, was seen as a way to expedite the delivery of critical supplies — food and medicine, namely — to civilians in the throes of a humanitarian crisis brought about by the Israel-Hamas war. Aid delivery has been hampered by unreliable land routes vulnerable to the intense scrutiny of Israeli checkpoints and fighting inside Gaza.
As fighting has intensified in Rafah at the southern end of Gaza, aid efforts have been effectively shut off. Humanitarian aid provider World Central Kitchen announced Wednesday it was halting aid in the south and moving operations north as Israeli attacks continue. With the south cut off to aid relief, the U.S.-built pier and northern border crossings have carried the bulk of aid deliveries in recent weeks.
How the pier works: US-built Gaza pier now open, trucks deliver aid to population isolated by Israel-Hamas war
Will the Gaza pier be repaired?
U.S. Central Command has removed the sections from their anchored position on the coast to tow to the Israeli port city of Ashdod 20 miles north of the pier's location. They're also recovering two vessels that ran aground near Ashkelon and two additional vessels beached near the pier.
Estimates from U.S. Central Command put the repair time for the pier at one week.
"The pier proved highly valuable in delivering aid to the people of Gaza. Thus, upon completion of the pier repair and reassembly, the intention is to re-anchor the temporary pier to the coast of Gaza and resume humanitarian aid to the people who need it most," Singh told reporters Tuesday.
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook and George Petras
SOURCES: Paste BN Network reporting; U.S. Central Command; Reuters