US continues to build temporary aid pier off coast of Gaza

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US is continuing to move forward with plans to build a temporary floating pier for humanitarian aid delivery into Gaza after high seas forced it to pause construction, the Pentagon said Monday.

"All indications are that we're continuing to move forward with the construction and the implementation of JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore), understanding that variables like the weather and the security situation can always play a factor," Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.

Last week, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it had temporarily paused offshore assembly of the floating pier due to sea state considerations. It added that the partially built pier and military vessels involved in its construction have moved to the Port of Ashdod, one of Israel’s three main cargo ports north of Gaza.

Ryder added that the units assigned to carry out the mission have continued constructing the pier in the vicinity of the port.

The US military is nearing the completion of a $320 million floating pier off Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave.

The Pentagon announced on March 8 that it would undertake an emergency mission to establish the pier off the Gazan coast to deliver up to 2 million humanitarian aid meals per day.

The mission includes a floating pier -- an 1,800-foot-long causeway -- that will be attached to the shore and a group of logistic support vessels.

Israel's war on Gaza, which began after a Oct. 7 incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, has devastated the enclave and plunged its 2.3 million people into a humanitarian catastrophe.