Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following statement:
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) personnel supporting the mission to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians attempted yesterday to re-anchor the temporary pier to the beach in Gaza to resume humanitarian operations. However, due to technical and weather-related issues, CENTCOM personnel were unable to re-anchor the pier to the shore. At no time did U.S. personnel enter Gaza.
The pier and support vessels and equipment are returning to Ashdod where they will remain until further notice. A re-anchoring date has not been set.
The temporary pier has been a critical part of the United States' effort to surge assistance into Gaza. To date, more than 8,100 metric tons (nearly 20 million pounds) of humanitarian aid have been delivered from the pier to the marshaling area where it can be collected by humanitarian organizations for onward delivery and distribution. This represents the largest amount of aid transported by the U.S. military over a 3-month period and the largest humanitarian response in the Middle East region.
As highlighted in the initial deployment announcement, 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. The pier will soon cease operations, with more details on that process and timing available in the coming days.
