The $230-million floating pier has only been operational for 28 days during its two months off the coast of Gaza. Even worse, most of the 6,500 tons of supplies from it are still awaiting collection from international agencies instead of reaching Palestinians
Was Biden's Floating Aid Delivery Pier Off the Gaza Coast Always Dead in the Water? -
At first sight, the floating pier constructed by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast – or JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore), as it is known in military jargon – seems to be working well. A relay of landing craft are arriving at one end, disembarking large trucks laden with humanitarian supplies that then drive over the pier on to the sandy track leading up from the beach.
While it was decided that there would be no flags around the pier, it is very clear where the American operation ends and that of the Israel Defense Forces begins. U.S. personnel are forbidden to tread on the beach. They are bound by the "no boots on the ground" directive of the Biden administration.
A sergeant major is stationed near the end of the pier to ensure that no service people cross the line. On board it is a U.S. Army battalion commander who oversees the pier, while the IDF colonel in command of the security operation on shore has a liaison officer with her. Israeli and American company sergeants have established their own lines of communication, helping supply either side with what their soldiers need.
U.S. Navy personnel constructing the JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the Shore) floating pier in April.Credit: US Navy/Reuters
For a short while, as the landing craft (logistics support vessels, or LSVs) arrive and the trucks drive into the three massive storage areas built by the IDF on shore, this looks like a picture of military efficiency.
That, though, would be something of an illusion.
In the two months since the ships that comprise the modular pier arrived off Gaza's coast, following a journey across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, the pier has been in operation for a total of 28 days – less than half the possible time. It has been moved three times due to sea conditions and, in one case, needed to be towed to Ashdod Port for repairs.
It's not just the sea conditions that are limiting the floating pier's usefulness. There are bottlenecks affecting operations even when the water is calm.
One is out to sea, five miles (eight kilometers) from the shore, where larger cargo ships transfer the trucks via a floating island onto the LSVs. Each of the landing craft can take as many as a dozen trucks on each run to the pier, but there are only a few of them. As a result, only around 250 tons of aid are delivered to the shore daily when the pier is operational.
"With more landing craft, we could handle 10 times the amount of cargo," says one of the officers involved in the operation.
A U.S. soldier standing on the floating pier off the Gaza Strip last week.Credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters
But even if the volume of incoming cargo was multiplied, the more significant bottleneck is on dry land – on the other side of the marshaling yard.
The massive compound built by the IDF allows for the supplies to be brought to shore and then stacked in the three storage areas, just south of Gaza City. This takes place during daylight, while the distribution is usually scheduled for nighttime through the eastern section of the landing area, further away from the shore and connected to the Saladin road leading from Gaza City to the southern part of the Strip.
This is supposed to be the main distribution hub for supplies arriving over the floating pier and, for the first days in which it was in operation, it worked well. However, in the last two weeks of operations, the international organizations that were supposed to be distributing the supplies – mainly the World Food Program – stopped sending trucks.
As the mountains of pallets grew on the sand, accusations were traded. UN officials blamed Israel for not providing security. Israeli officers claimed that the organizations were being intimidated by Hamas as it did not want to see the joint U.S.-Israeli venture succeed.
As a result, most of the 6,500 tons of supplies brought over the pier – over 7,000 pallets – are still waiting on the shore, instead of reaching Gazan citizens.
A satellite image showing an overview of the floating pier at the end of May.Credit: Maxar Technologies/Reuters
The pier was again towed to Ashdod Port at the end of last week due to forecasts of high seas. A Pentagon spokesperson said it would be returned when the sea conditions permitted, but there are reports of a planned termination of the operationwithin weeks.
"As far as we've concerned, we've delivered our part," says an IDF officer in the special headquarters set up in Division 98 to secure the landing area. "But it's a problematic mission, protecting a project the Americans decided upon without considering whether it was the best option.
"You could bring 100 times the amount of supplies through Ashdod Port, and much faster and safer.," he noted. "But they [the Americans] didn't want to fight with the Israeli government about access from Ashdod and sent the floating pier instead."
Many see this $230 million project, of limited use at best, as an apt analogy for the Biden administration's involvement in the war so far.
U.S. Army soldiers standing on the U.S.-built floating pier, with Gaza in the background, last week.Credit: Leo Correa/AP