Unclear future for Biden’s Gaza pier initiative as NYT and US Defense Dept issue conflicting reports

Pier was built to prevent a ‘famine’ in Gaza, IPC now admits ‘no evidence’ of famine

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The New York Times reported Tuesday evening that the Gaza Aid pier, constructed by the U.S. government at the cost of around $230 million, will soon shut down.

The Times reported that the temporary pier, which was built to rush aid into Gaza over concerns of a developing famine, “has largely failed in its mission.”

The Times says the pier will probably end operations weeks earlier than originally expected, despite only providing around 10 days of active service.

However, the U.S. Department of Defense appeared to contradict the NYT’s assessment of the pier in a statement issued on the DoD website.

The DoD report acknowledged that “the pier is a temporary measure,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj.-Gen. Pat Ryder, adding, “We expect it will go operational again this week.”

“We’ve said all along that the pier is a temporary measure,” Ryder stated. “I don't have any dates to announce in terms of when it will cease operations.”

Ryder also claimed the pier has delivered “a substantial amount of aid into Gaza.”

“Since the pier was put in place about a month ago, we've been able to shuttle over 3,500 metric tons, or 7.7 million pounds of aid onto the shore in Gaza, via this temporary pier,” Ryder claimed.

The Pentagon official also referred to the previous strategy of airdropping humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

“As far as airdrops go, we do have the capability and do intend to continue conducting airdrops.”

He also said the U.S. would continue to work with aid groups, the United Nations, Israel and other partners to find ways to get additional aid into Gaza.

Despite attempts by the Department of Defense to portray the pier as a success, it reportedly has had a limited impact on the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The pier physically broke apart within days after its first successful aid delivery, and the U.S. Navy had to send vessels to recover parts from near Ashdod, tens of kilometers away.

The NYT also reported that only around seven truckloads of aid per day were transferred on the days it was operational.

“The volume is negligible,” J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the NYT. “And the seas are just going to get rougher and rougher.”

In an article last week, Stephen Semler, a national security expert at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote, “Supplies from the pier aren’t flowing to Palestinians, and never really have.”

On Tuesday, the UN said it is unable to distribute aid which Israel inspects and brings across the border due to “lack of any police or rule of law in the area.”

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said increased aid from Israel and recent humanitarian pauses have “yet to translate into more aid reaching people in need.” In late May, Reuters reported that almost 70% of aid delivered via the pier did not reach World Food Programme warehouses due to theft by Hamas terrorists.

Recently, the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) noted that previous reports of famine in Gaza were not plausible.