On Thursday, March 7, President Joe Biden announced during his State of the Union address that the U.S. military would be building a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to help in the delivery of humanitarian aid. Now, despite being at odds over a cease-fire, Israel is agreeing to provide a “security bubble” for the U.S. pier project, according to Politico.
Officials familiar with the project told Politico that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will be responsible for securing the pier to the beach. However, the project is still in the planning stages and nothing is entirely settled.
A spokesperson confirmed that the IDF will be “coordinating with the U.S. military to facilitate the project” but didn’t provide other details.
According to the United Nations, people in Gaza are facing “imminent famine” as the Israel-Hamas war continues. Once the pier is complete, it will reportedly be used to deliver more than 2 million meals per day.
The U.S. also said that the pier will provide a better way to deliver aid, especially in the wake of deadly incidents involving air-dropped parcels. Twelve Palestinians drowned off the northern Gaza coast trying to reach air-dropped aid parcels, which had landed in the sea.
Another five people were killed in a separate incident involving an air drop, when a parachute failed to deploy properly on a parcel, killing people on the ground. The completion of the U.S.-made pier would eliminate the need for air drops.
However, constructing the pier will take some time. Officials said that the building process will take around two months. When the pier is finished, it will be a floating pier three to five miles offshore and have an 1,800-foot causeway anchored to the beach to be used by ships to offload aid onto.
After aid is taken off the ships, trucks will load it and distribute the aid into Gaza. In order to ensure the pier is completed, workers need to be kept safe.
How the IDF will provide security and “secure” the pier is still unknown. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the project, some lawmakers have serious questions about how the construction process will go.
Rep. Mike Rogers, D-Ala., accused Biden of being politically motivated to build the pier. He cited a protest vote in Michigan’s Democratic primary, in which a large swath of voters wrote in “uncommitted” because of U.S. support for Israel’s military efforts. According to Rogers, this pushed Biden to move “really fast” on the pier. Rogers and some other Democrats reportedly want more answers.
The White House said no American troops will be on the ground to build the pier. However, when asked how that would happen, specifics were not given. The Pentagon said the U.S. military has “unique capabilities” and can do things from just “offshore.”
