President Joe Biden’s $230 million Gaza pier has been removed due to heavy winds and high seas, U.S. officials say, and it is unclear if and when the military might reinstall it.
“When the commander decides that it’s the right time to re-install that pier, we’ll keep you updated on that,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said. “As we always said with the pier it is meant to be temporary. It is not the long-term solution or solve for land routes, we know that’s the most effective way in. But that’s really a decision the commander will make as we continue to evaluate the high seas states.”
Located off the coast of Gaza, Biden’s pier has been damaged and removed temporarily before due to weather and rough conditions in the Mediterranean Sea. When the pier was completed in May, it was open for less than one week before a storm rendered it inoperable.
Although the Biden administration has touted its ability to get 19.4 million pounds of food into Gaza via the pier, much of the aid sits onshore awaiting pickup, or is stolen by crowds that swarm aid trucks. Humanitarian organizations have suspended aid collections from the pier due to security concerns, after the Israeli military conducted a hostage rescue mission in Gaza and used an area near the pier to fly hostages out of.
Aid is now sitting in a storage yard adjacent to the pier. Singh said that the area was “pretty close to full” and told the Associated Press that she didn’t know when the pier would be reinstalled.
The announcement comes days after GOP lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee wrote a letter to Biden asking him to shut down the pier for good.
“Three and a half months since the President’s announcement of a maritime corridor for Gaza and at least $230 million wasted, the operation has been riddled with setbacks, sidelined more often than operational, and can only be classified as a gross waste of taxpayer dollars,” committee Chairman Mike Rogers said. “I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery.”