The floating pier being built by the United States military off the coast of Gaza came under mortar fire from suspected Hamas militants on Thursday, jeopardizing plans to provide humanitarian aid to the war-torn region. The attacks on the construction area, which disrupted a visit from United Nations representatives and members of the Israel Defense Force, come as both Hamas and Israel have made threats against foreign aid shipments that could shift the balance in their ongoing war.
As Valuetainment previously reported, plans for the temporary pier were announced just ahead of President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address. The floating offshore construction, which will measure 72 feet wide and 270 feet long upon completion, will be built on Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea and connect with an earthen causeway built by IDF forces on the mainland. The completed pier will allow aid ships from Cyprus to make deliveries without endangering American personnel or requiring US military presence on the ground.
“A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day,” Biden said during his speech in March. “And Israel must also do its part… Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.”
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More than six weeks after this announcement, military officials finally confirmed that construction on the pier was underway on Thursday, with the project expected to be complete by next month—at a cost of $200 million to US taxpayers.
Soon after the building commenced, unknown assailants began strafing the marshaling yard area with gunfire and mortars. A United Nations delegation was reportedly present at the time of the attack, but officials have indicated that everyone at the scene was evacuated safely without casualties. The IDF blamed one of Gaza’s resident terrorist groups, namely Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, for the hostility.
“Members of a terror group in the Gaza Strip launched mortars at an under-construction pier for a US-led project to bring aid into the Palestinian enclave yesterday,” The Times of Israel reported. “The mortar attack occurred as United Nations officials were touring the site with Israeli troops on the coast of central Gaza, the IDF says in response to a query on the incident.”
Although both terrorist groups previously indicated that they would resist any foreign military presence at the construction site, neither Hamas nor the PIJ have claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The terrorist organizations continue to systematically harm humanitarian efforts while risking the lives of UN workers, while Israel allows the supply of aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip,” Israeli military officials added.
However, contrary to this statement, Hamas has not been alone in its hostility towards foreign aid in the Gaza Strip. Since the war in Gaza began more than six months ago, Israel has likewise been behind aggressive action against humanitarian deliveries from international groups.
Two days after the October 7th attacks by Hamas, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip,” pledging that there would be “no electricity, no food, no fuel” allowed into the region.
“We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly,” he said at the time.
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Israeli involvement in the pier project has also been a confounding factor, with the IDF insisting on inspecting every delivery that arrives at the port despite already having done so in Cyprus. The establishment of checkpoints in the delivery zones has raised concerns about possible delays or even confiscation of goods meant for local Palestinians.
Last month, an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, drawing rare condemnation from the Biden administration and forcing the group to suspend its operations in Gaza.
As of this week, three Freedom Flotilla ships loaded with 5,500 tons of food, pallets of medical supplies, and nearly 1,000 aid workers are being delayed in Turkey pending approval to set sail. However, the organization fears that, even if the Turkish government gives the green light despite pressure from Israel, the US, and Germany, the IDF may attempt to commandeer all three ships and confiscate the supplies onboard. A similar interdiction by the IDF in 2010 led to the deaths of 10 activists when the passengers tried to repel boarders with improvised weapons.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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