Building of a Pier (U.S. Army)
Construction of the new pier for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza has been completed. It was built by the American military and will be under the security supervision of the US. If the American government and the European Union agreed to oversee all of Gaza’s ports, then Israel would be able to end its naval blockade of the area.
The project was begun a few months ago in order to open a new route for the delivery of food, medical supplies and other goods to Gaza.
The US Military’s Central Command – CENTCOM – which covers security in the Middle East within its purview – was responsible for the new pier’s construction.
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“Today at approximately 7:40 a.m. (Gaza time) United States Central Command personnel, supporting the humanitarian mission to deliver additional humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in need, anchored a temporary pier to the beach in Gaza,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “As part of this effort, no U.S. troops entered Gaza. Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance are expected to begin moving ashore in the coming days. The United Nations will receive the aid and coordinate its distribution into Gaza.”
USAID – The United States Agency for International Development – was also involved in the new Gaza pier’s construction..
Dan Dieckhaus, director for USAID’s Levant humanitarian response, said “Work on the pier is complete and the maritime corridor is expected to be operational in the coming days. Humanitarian commodities from the United States and other countries are currently arriving in Cyprus, where they are being screened for loading onto ships for delivery to Gaza via the maritime corridor where, again, humanitarian organizations will independently select and distribute that assistance to the final recipient.”
He added that this maritime corridor is meant to be additive and it is meant to enable humanitarian organizations in the independent operation of their humanitarian activities.
US Navy Vice Admiral Charles Cooper, deputy commander of CENTCOM, explained that for the command supporting USAID efforts to supply humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza is a” top priority.”
Admiral Cooper also that the American military will take no combat role in the ongoing conflict saying, “The U.S. military’s only role in this effort is to provide our unique logistics capability to enable the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza by USAID and our international partners.”
“International efforts are underway to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza through all available routes, including by land, by air, and now by sea,” he added. “We are focused on flooding the zone with humanitarian assistance. This is the policy of our government.”
The Israeli government would certainly like to see more involvement from the US and European governments in the control and supervision of all of the border crossings into Gaza – by sea and air – to ensure that no weapons of any kind could be smuggled into Gaza for the use of terrorists.
