US says floating relief ship will close soon

The United States says a floating dock designed to increase aid flows into the Gaza Strip will “soon be decommissioned”, less than two months after it was installed.

The announcement comes after the US military was unable to re-dock the pier this week due to “technical and weather-related issues”. The pier had to be removed on June 28 due to bad weather.

A Pentagon spokesman said more than 8,000 tons of humanitarian aid had been transferred from the dock while it was in operation.

He also stressed that this was always intended as a temporary solution.

US officials believe the order will remain in place until August or September, when changing conditions in the Mediterranean could make it impossible to maintain.

In fact, the weather turned severe soon after the route began operating on May 17.

For a major plan first announced by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address in March, JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore) has had a short and rocky history.

After stormy weather in late May, four small landing craft involved in the operation broke loose and drifted ashore.

Several days later, parts of the pier were removed and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repairs.

In mid-June, the entire structure, built by US engineers at a cost of $230 million (£178 million), was moved to Ashdod, again due to weather.

“The temporary relocation of the pier will prevent structural damage caused by rising sea levels,” the Pentagon said at the time.

The pier was re-docked on 19 June, but operations were halted again, less than a week later, “to perform scheduled maintenance activities”.

This plan is also affected by the complicated political situation.

When Israeli commandos rescued four hostages from the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp on June 8, a video showing an Israeli helicopter taking off near the docks sparked speculation on social media that US forces were involved in the rescue.

There is no evidence of US involvement, but the Pentagon has been forced to issue a strong denial.

“The temporary jetty on the Gaza coast has been set up for one purpose only,” the report said. “To help move more urgently needed life-saving aid into Gaza.”

The United States’ role as Israel’s main military and diplomatic backer means the pier is always likely to be a focus of Palestinian suspicion, whether unfounded or not.

“When the jetty is functioning properly, it provides Gaza with much-needed aid,” said an aid worker in Gaza.

“However… its involvement in biased perception has reduced its sustainability.”

For a plan designed to improve the delivery of humanitarian aid, at a time when Israel’s military campaign has left many Gazans on the brink of famine, what difference does it make?

Joe Biden said the dock would “allow for a significant increase in the amount of humanitarian aid that goes to Gaza every day.”

By the end of June, US Central Command (Centcom) said more than 8,831 tons of aid had been delivered, with more than half of that arriving in the past week.

But the company also announced another incident, saying that “due to forecast bad weather”, the pier had to be moved back to Ashdod again.

It is expected to return this week to clear a backlog of aid in Cyprus and on a floating dock moored off the Gaza coast.

But on Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder announced that Centcom personnel were unable to re-anchore the pier to shore.

“The pier and support vessels with equipment are returning to Ashdod, where they will remain until further notice. A re-docking date has not yet been set,” he said.

“As stated in the initial deployment announcement, this pier has always been considered a temporary solution to allow additional aid flows into Gaza during periods of urgent humanitarian need, with limited access, supplementing existing land and air distribution channels,” he added.

“The pier will be shut down soon, details of the process and timing will be announced in the coming days.”

The total number of deliveries to date is only a fraction of the actual demand.

According to the United Nations, about 500 aid trucks entered Gaza every day before the war between Israel and Hamas broke out last October.

These comparisons are imprecise, but over the course of two months, the US brig delivered the equivalent of a day’s worth of aid as it did in a pre-war delivery.

And getting the aid ashore is just part of the challenge. Getting it safely to the people who need it is incredibly dangerous.

As the Israeli military launches a new ground offensive into nearby Gaza City this week, ensuring the safety of aid workers remains as challenging as ever.

The breakdown of law and order across the Gaza Strip as Israel relentlessly targets anyone associated with Hamas, including police, means that looting – whether organised or opportunistic – remains rampant.

Aid that has been brought ashore is often stuck at Israeli-controlled staging areas, with aid agencies reluctant to collect and distribute it in such an unsafe environment.