Biden admin looking at alternative plans for Gaza aid amid floating pier failures

The Biden administration is looking at alternative plans to get aid into Gaza as its floating pier initiative has largely failed, according to NBC News.

The pier, constructed by the U.S. military in mid-May, aimed to deliver aid to the Palestinians via a maritime corridor in the Mediterranean Sea. But as the pier system has been beset with problems and is facing early closure, the administration is now looking at other options to get aid into Gaza, including a replacement pier, according to NBC and The Wall Street Journal.

The second pier system could be built by a private corporation, Fogbow, led by former military members and United Nations officials, according to NBC. Fogbow says it could replace the existing pier with a better, more stable version within weeks.

Fogbow would build a movable pier that anchors to Gaza’s shores and uses a crane system to haul aid directly onto the beach, according to NBC. This differs from the Biden administration’s system, which utilizes two piers — one anchored to the shores and a second one floating off the coast — and relies on trucks and boats to facilitate aid delivery, according to the WSJ.

Israeli and U.S. officials have been briefed on Fogbow’s plan, though officials said they don’t have current plans to try it, according to NBC.

“The maritime corridor is a vital component in alleviating suffering,” Mick Mulroy, Fogbow vice president, told NBC. “While aid can certainly arrive via Ashdod and then be trucked to Gaza, doing so presents additional challenges, as we have already seen. This route underscores the need for continued access to multiple land and maritime channels.”

The Ashdod route Mulroy is referencing is a port in Israel, which the Biden administration is planning to use to deliver aid to Gaza via trucks, according to NBC.

The new plans come amid a series of problems facing the pier, jeopardizing its operations and hampering efforts to get aid into Gaza. President Joe Biden told the Pentagon his idea for the pier just days before publicly announcing it, sending defense officials scrambling to get it constructed less than two months later.

The hastily built pier was not built to operate in the choppy waters of the Mediterranean, often forcing the U.S. military to temporarily shut it down until unfavorable sea conditions passed over, according to the WSJ. A stint of bad weather broke the pier apart in late May, forcing the military to tow it north for repairs.

U.S. officials are reportedly now warning aid organizations on the ground in Gaza that the pier could be permanently shut down in the coming weeks, much sooner than the anticipated target date of September, according to the New York Times.

“It’s not redeemable and was a dangerously foolish idea from the beginning,” Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Simone Ledeen previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “A huge waste of human and financial resources.”

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