The Port of ASHDOD, Israel – U.S. military efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza have hit a snag, as heavy sea conditions wrecked a temporary pier built off the coast.
The U.S. Central Command recently built the structure to help facilitate aid delivery to civilians caught in the crossfire. Heavy seas and a North African weather system, however, caused significant damage, washing sections of the pier along the Gaza coastline and the southern Israeli city of Ashdod.
Sal Mercogliano of Campbell University explained, “What you had happen off the coast of Gaza was an increase in sea swell and winds. And the US JLOTS, Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore operation, is really tailored to a specific sea state. And basically less than ten knots of wind or three feet of sea. When you get over that, it really taxes the system.”
The temporary pier was intended to bring the equivalent of 150 truckloads of aid to Gaza each day, but so far fewer than 40 have made it to the beach. Some loads that did make it were reportedly taken by looters before reaching those who needed it most.
Military engineers didn’t have the resources to pull the beached pieces of the
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