US military ships depart for Gaza pier construction
12 March, 2024 18:36
US military ships depart for Gaza pier construction
Four US Army vessels departed a base in the US state of Virginia, carrying about 100 soldiers and equipment needed to build a temporary port on Gaza’s coast for desperately needed aid deliveries.
The new facility – which will consist of an offshore platform for transshipment of aid from larger to smaller vessels and a pier to bring it ashore – is expected to be up and running “at the 60-day mark”, US Army Brigadier-General Brad Hinson told journalists.
About 500 troops from the 7th Transportation Battalion (Expeditionary) will take part in the operation, Hinson said, describing it as “the premier watercraft unit in our Army.”
“They can provide sustainment support over the water in austere environments. They are trained to do this, and they’ve gone on many exercises to be ready to provide this capability,” he said.
With hundreds of thousands of Palestinians facing starvation, the plan has been criticised while Israel refuses to fully open land crossings for aid deliveries.
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