President Joe Biden’s $230 million American taxpayer-funded Gaza pier is shutting down after about three weeks of usage and an unclear amount of aid actually delivered to Palestinians in Gaza.
Several U.S. officials anonymously told the Associated Press on Tuesday the pier — which Biden announced with fanfare during the State of the Union address in March and forced the U.S. military to build and operate — will be permanently dismantled after several more days of usage.
Biden announced the ill-fated idea during his speech on March 7. The pier — which took at least 1,000 U.S. troops to build and install and operate — opened on May 16.
The purpose was to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
A U.S. Army landing craft is seen beached and disabled in Ashdod on Sunday, May 26, 2024, after being swept by wind and current from the temporary humanitarian pier in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
The pier broke apart just nine days later, and had to be removed for repairs.
It was then reattached on June 7, but then had to be removed again a week later on June 14. It was then put back and then removed on June 28.
The Biden administration blamed the pier breaking apart on unexpected weather. However, as Breitbart News reported, the pier system, known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS), was never meant to be used in conditions with waves over about four feet. Breitbart News obtained exclusive video of the pier being battered by waves.
Exclusive video of Biden’s shoddy Gaza Pier (before it broke into pieces): pic.twitter.com/Xqyqjt7Ru4
— Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) June 14, 2024
The AP reported that the pier would be reinstalled on Wednesday for “several days” — to deliver aid that has piled up at various points waiting to be sent over the pier — but then the plan is to dismantle it permanently.
According to the report, 19.4 million pounds of food, or 8,800 metric tons, have crossed into Gaza over the pier, but it is unclear how much made it to Palestinians in Gaza. According to the Guardian, that amount is equivalent to a single day of deliveries before the war began.
You gotta be kidding https://t.co/vPUsgiuAby
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 20, 2024
“You asked how the pier is. The pier is great. The pier is still in Ashdod, has not been re-anchored. We’re continuing to monitor weather conditions right now,” he said at a press briefing on July 2.
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