With U.S. soldiers within shouting distance of Gaza‘s bombed-out coast, the American military is taking another stab at delivering aid to hungry Palestinians by sea.
After several fits and starts, a $230 million pier is up and running again. The U.S. military invited reporters for a tour of it on Tuesday, marking the first time international media has witnessed its operations firsthand.
International journalists have not been allowed to enter Gaza independently since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7.
The project, which first launched in mid-May, resumed operations last week after a recent pause due to rough seas.
As journalists looked on Tuesday, U.S. soldiers with machine guns directed the pier’s operations. U.S. vessels carrying trucks loaded with humanitarian aid docked at the pier.
Israeli and Cypriot drivers drove the trucks off the vessels and headed down the 400-meter (437-yard) causeway to the beach, where they unloaded pallets of aid.
The trucks then returned to the vessels to be ferried to large cargo ships and reloaded. The cargo ships travel across the Mediterranean Sea from Cyprus.
Col. Samuel Miller, the commander of a joint task force, U.S. Army 7th Transportation Brigade, said the vessels can ferry aid to the pier at least five times a day.
“Our mission out here is to receive those humanitarian assistance pallets offshore from a larger vessel onto that floating pier,” he said, shouting over waves crashing against the…
