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A report issued by the Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) said on Tuesday that more than 60 soldiers were injured during the floating aid operation in Gaza during the era of former President Joe Biden, a number much higher than what was previously disclosed.
The pavement, which Biden announced during a television speech to Congress in March 2024, was a huge project that was required by about a thousand American soldiers.
However, bad weather conditions and distribution difficulties inside Gaza limited the effectiveness of what the American army described as its greatest effort to deliver aid ever in the Middle East. The pavement worked only about 20 days, and its cost was about 230 million dollars.
Although there were no mortality or direct attacks on the sidewalk, the US Department of Defense said that 3 soldiers were injured that were not related to fighting during the pavement support in May, and a medical evacuation was carried out for one of them while he was in critical condition.
But the new report issued by the Pentagon Inspector General said the real number is 62.
It says, “Based on the information provided, we were unable to determine which 62 of these injuries, during the performance of the duty, an event outside the service, or as a result of pre -existing medical conditions.”
Entering aid
The sidewalk became a sensitive issue in Congress, as the Republicans described it as a political maneuver by Biden, who was under pressure from his democratic colleagues to make more efforts to help the Palestinians after his strong support for months of the Israeli war on Gaza.
While the 370 -meter floating berth has helped to transfer a very necessary assistance to a grouping area on Gaza Beach, it is necessary to remove it many times due to bad weather.
The Inspector General said that the American army did not meet the standards of equipment, as the report stated that the army “did not organize, train or equip its forces in line with joint standards.”
The challenges facing the delivery of aid to Gaza remain, as Israel has prevented from the second since March the entry of any supplies to the residents of the 2.3 million sector, which led to a severe famine that caused the death of dozens of children and the injury of thousands of malnutrition.
The Euro -Mediterranean Observatory drew attention to the fact that more than a million children in the Gaza Strip suffer from severe malnutrition, in light of food insecurity and almost complete collapse of health infrastructure.
The United Nations and Palestinian representatives of the International Court of Justice accuse Israel of violating international law of refusing to allow aid to enter Gaza.
Israel is defending its siege, which it imposes on entering aid to Gaza, claiming that Hamas is stealing the supplies allocated to the civilian population and distributing it to its fighters, which the movement denies.
