The U.S. was unable to anchor a pier meant to provide aid to a beach inside Gaza Wednesday due to bad weather.
The equipment for the Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS) operation was towed back to the port of Ashdod, where it will remain until further notice.
“The pier will soon cease operations, with more details on that process and timing available in the coming days. The mission will soon cease,” said Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman.
The operation is largely run by soldiers from the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek — Fort Story. Roughly 500 local soldiers set sail from Virginia in March.
One of their soldiers remains in critical condition, following an accident on board one of the ships in May. He and his family were transported by military aircraft from Israel to San Antonio, Texas in early June. He continues to receive treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center, according to an army official.
No U.S. troops were on the ground in Gaza during the attempt to anchor the pier Wednesday. This is the fifth time the pier has been dismantled due to poor weather in the eastern Mediterranean.
“The pier has always been intended as a temporary solution to enable the additional flow of aid into Gaza during a period of dire humanitarian need, with limited access, supplementing land and air channels of delivery,” said Ryder, in a written statement.
The operation failed to live up to the promise of delivering 150 truckloads of aid per day.
Since May 27, the operation has provided roughly 500 truckloads of food to the people of Gaza who face starvation. The amount is the equivalent of the number of truckloads that crossed into Gaza each day, prior to Israel’s war with Hamas.
