The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the temporary naval pier established by the US army off the coast of the Gaza Strip will be removed for repairs, and will be returned once those repairs are completed.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said that repairing the naval pier would take a week and would take place in the port of Ashdod.
Two American officials said that the pier was out of service after part of it separated, and they explained that this was due to bad weather, but they did not disclose the extent of the damage to the pier or how long it would take to resume its operations.
Last Saturday, Israeli Channel 12 reported that sea waves washed away part of the pier and threw it off the shores of the city of Ashdod.
She said that the Israeli Navy is trying to save the part that broke off due to the crashing waves, and connect it to the rest of the pier.
The Israeli channel noted that the accident did not result in any injuries.
Press coverage: Hebrew sources: Part of the American pier from Gaza Beach to Ashdod collapsed pic.twitter.com/aa2IGzXyA1
– Quds News Network (@qudsn) May 25, 2024
It published a video clip showing a group of American soldiers and others from the Israeli Navy trying to connect the separated part of the pier to an American boat to return it to the shores of Gaza.
It is noteworthy that US President Joe Biden had first announced plans to establish the pier in early March, in light of Israel’s obstruction of the delivery of aid by land.
On May 16, the US Central Command (Centcom) announced the completion of the construction of the naval pier, whose value is estimated at about $320 million, and about a thousand American military personnel participated in its construction.
The pier officially began operating on Friday, May 17, and a spokesman for the World Food Program said that the United States has transported 137 aid trucks through the pier since the start of its operations.