Pentagon says U.S. pier for Gaza aid is more than half-completed, to be ready soon

The Pentagon said Wednesday that a temporary pier under construction off the coast of the Gaza Strip is more than 50% complete and is on track to provide humanitarian relief in the coming days to relieve the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

On March 8, the Defense Department announced the mission to erect the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) pier and said delivery operations would begin about 60 days later. Construction began on April 25 and the operation is estimated to cost about $320 million.

JLOTS consists of a floating pier and a 1,800-foot-long causeway that will be attached to the shore. Military logistics support vessels and barges will transport the aid from the pier to the causeway.

“The floating pier has been completely constructed and set up. The causeway is still in progress,” Sabrina Singh, a Defense Department spokeswoman, told reporters at the Pentagon. “We don’t have an exact date when the aid trucks will roll into Gaza.”

Defense Department officials anticipate the project will help deliver at least 90 truckloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza at first. Once fully operational, the number should increase to about 150 truckloads or about 2 million meals per day.

The off-the-shore construction project comes amid an ongoing war that began when Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023 rampage into southern Israel resulting in the death of at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and hundreds of others taken hostage. Israel launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip later that month that has drawn criticism from some quarters over the civilian casualties that have resulted.

The U.S. will transport humanitarian aid from the floating pier to the causeway when JLOTS becomes operational. Ms. Singh said trucks from a “third party” will then transport the load to the shore of the Gaza Strip.

“Some parties don’t necessarily want to be named publicly. It will be a third party and not U.S. forces driving those trucks,” she said.

The United Nations, likely through its World Food Program, will distribute the food when it reaches the shoreline. Israel agreed to provide security at the scene for the U.S.-led humanitarian relief operation. U.S. officials said they don’t want a repeat of an April 1 IDF attack on a convoy in Gaza that killed seven workers with the World Central Kitchen aid group.

The IDF said the incident was a tragic mistake and dismissed two officers and three others for their roles in the drone strikes. Israeli officials said the officers violated the IDF’s rules of engagement and mishandled critical information.

“We have seen the IDF take some steps to prevent something like that from happening again,” Ms. Singh said. “We’ve also set up a ’deconfliction cell’ … to ensure that aid workers are given the kind of security they need to move within Gaza to distribute the aid.”