The United States is constructing a temporary pier at sea to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, with plans to deliver up to 150 trucks of aid per day. The pier and causeway are being built by US military vessels, including the USNS Benavidez. The goal is to start delivering aid in early May, scaling up to 150 trucks per day. The mission will be executed for several months, with no US troops on the ground in Gaza. Instead, the Israel Defense Forces will partner with the US military to anchor the causeway to the shore.
The US Army has been training an IDF engineering unit on how to anchor the causeway to the shore, and the IDF will provide a security perimeter on the ground in Gaza. US troops will operate the system at a safe distance from the beach, but within range of potential rocket or missile attacks. The US Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean will support the mission. The construction of the pier comes as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has become dire, with the entire population facing food insecurity.
Once the aid reaches Gaza, USAID will work with the UN to distribute it. The aid will flow from Cyprus via commercial vessels to a floating pier anchored miles off the coast of Gaza. It will then be transferred to smaller Army boats, which will shuttle it to the causeway. Trucks from a partner country will pick up the aid and transport it to a secure distribution point. Two command and control cells have been set up in Cyprus and Israel to facilitate the delivery of the aid.
The US military is conducting a high-stakes construction mission in a warzone to build the pier, while diplomats are helping to organize the aid distribution operation. The military is likely to operate the pier for at least three months, with the goal of eventually turning it into a commercial operation for use by other countries and organizations. The aid delivery mission is complex and involves collaboration between the US military, Israel Defense Forces, USAID, and the UN World Food Programme. The US is committed to providing humanitarian aid to alleviate the food insecurity crisis in Gaza.
