US 'temporarily' pauses floating pier construction off Gaza due to bad weather

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US "temporarily" paused the construction of a temporary pier off Gaza’s coast to deliver humanitarian aid due to bad weather, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Friday.

CENTCOM said it "temporarily paused offshore assembly of the floating pier in the vicinity of Gaza due to sea state considerations" on Thursday.

"Forecasted high winds and high sea swells caused unsafe conditions for Soldiers working on the surface of the partially constructed pier," it said in a statement.

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, it added.

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 in Gaza, which began after a Oct. 7 incursion by Hamas, has devastated the enclave and plunged its 2.3 million people into a humanitarian catastrophe.