President Biden ordered a temporary pier be built to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza despite expressed concerns that the effort would be difficult to pull off, according to a USAID report.
U.S. Army soldiers stand next to trucks arriving loaded with humanitarian aid at the U.S.-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, June 25, 2024.
But the $230 million military-run project known as the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system, or JLOTS, would only operate for about 20 days. Aid groups pulled out of the project by July, ending a mission plagued by repeated weather and security problems that limited how much food and other emergency supplies could get to starving Palestinians.
High waves and bad weather repeatedly damaged the pier, and the U.N. World Food Program ended cooperation with the project after an Israeli rescue operation used an area nearby to whisk away hostages, raising concerns about whether its workers would be seen as neutral and independent in the conflict.
The U.S. agreed to conditions set by the WFP, including that the pier would be placed in north Gaza, where the need for aid was greatest, and that a U.N. member nation would provide security for the pier. That step was meant to safeguard WFP's neutrality among Gaza's warring parties, the watchdog report said.
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