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A temporary dock for humanitarian aid set up by the US military on the coast of the Gaza Strip will soon cease operations completely, the Pentagon announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The pier broke away and was badly damaged due to rough seas in June, and was towed to Ashdod on the Israeli coast.<\/p>\n
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said on Thursday that US military personnel unsuccessfully attempted to re-anchor the pier on the beach in Gaza on Wednesday but failed due to technical and weather-related issues.<\/p>\n
“The pier will soon cease operations, with more details on that process and timing available in the coming days,” Ryder said.<\/p>\n
Ryder’s remarks left open whether the temporary pier might be used again before ending operations entirely. He said only that a date for another re-anchoring attempt has not been set.<\/p>\n
Ryder stressed that “the pier has always been intended as a temporary solution to enable the additional flow of aid into Gaza during a period of dire humanitarian need, with limited access, supplementing land and air channels of delivery.”<\/p>\n
Original plans for the pier called for freight ships to bring aid supplies from Cyprus to a floating platform a few kilometres off the coast of the Gaza Strip, where the goods would be loaded onto smaller ships that can sail closer to the coast and dock at the pier.<\/p>\n
There, the deliveries are received and distributed by aid organizations.<\/p>\n
The operation has been plagued by problems since beginning in May, however.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n