Army engineers on Thursday began construction of a floating pier and causeway for humanitarian aid off the coast of Gaza, which, when completed, could help relief workers deliver as many as two million meals a day for the enclave’s residents, Defense Department officials said.
The construction is meant to allow humanitarian aid to bypass Israeli restrictions on land convoys into the besieged strip.
General Ryder said that defense officials expected the project, ordered up by President Biden early last month, to be completed early next month.
The facility is meant to include an offshore platform to transfer aid from ships, and a floating pier to bring the aid to shore.
But aid workers say, and defense officials have acknowledged, that the maritime project is not an adequate substitute for land convoys.
Such aid convoys fell sharply when the war began more than six months ago and have only partly recovered.
The floating pier is being built alongside an Army ship off the Gaza coast.
Army ships are large, lumbering vessels, so they have armed escorts, particularly as they get within range of Gaza’s coast, defense officials have said.
As of Thursday, Defense Department officials said, Army engineers were building a causeway and floating pier off the coast of Gaza for humanitarian aid. When finished, this project could enable relief workers to feed up to two million people daily in the enclave.
The fact that work is now underway on the “initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea” indicates that the project’s timeline corresponds with the projections made by Pentagon officials, Maj. Gen. PR spokesperson for the Defense Department Patrick S. Ryder stated. The purpose of the construction is to get around Israeli restrictions on land convoys carrying humanitarian aid into the besieged strip.
According to General Ryder, defense officials anticipated that President Biden’s early last month project order would be fulfilled early in the following month. The facility is designed to have a floating pier for bringing aid ashore and an offshore platform for transferring aid from ships.
The plan has been well received by aid organizations; it will supplement the humanitarian supplies that the U.S. S. military operations over Gaza. However, aid workers and defense officials agree that the maritime project is insufficient to replace land convoys. When the war started more than six months ago, these relief convoys decreased dramatically and have only partially recovered.
A few U. s. A mortar attack that occurred on Wednesday in the area where some pier work is supposed to be done caused minimal damage, according to General Ryder, and concerns about the project’s security have also been privately voiced by military officials. But he asserted that U. s. At the time of the mortar attacks, no forces had begun to move into the area.
A floating pier near the coast of Gaza is being constructed next to an Army ship. According to defense officials, army ships are large, lumbering vessels, so they have armed escorts, especially when they approach Gaza’s coast.
