President Joe Biden ordered a temporary pier be constructed to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza earlier this year – even though experts said it wasn’t a good idea, according to a government watchdog. Staffers warned the president that the pier would face significant challenges.
A new report from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said warnings over weather in the Mediterranean Sea and security challenges were raised, due to it being in an active war zone.
USAID officials also say they voiced concerns that focusing on the pier would distract from the larger effort to reopen land crossings into Gaza. The crossings were seen as a more efficient and well-established way of moving large quantities of humanitarian supplies.
The $230 million pier did end up being plagued by bad weather and recurring security problems, and it was only operational for 20 days over a two-month span.
It was meant to deliver enough food for 500,000 Palestinians each month for three months. Instead, it only delivered enough aid for 450,000 people for a single month.
Even when the pier was operating, crowded roads and land routes that constantly changed made it difficult to operate effectively. According to the report, the World Food Programme (WFP) and USAID staff cited “multiple instances” of aid convoys being looted, attacks on WFP warehouses, and drivers being detained or shot. The WFP oversaw distribution of aid once it was delivered to the beach in Gaza.
Planned distribution routes could also become evacuation zones “within a matter of hours” based on Israeli military operations, the report said, forcing officials to change transportation plans.
In response to the new USAID report, a Pentagon spokesperson said the pier “achieved its goal of providing an additive means of delivering high volumes of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”
