CNN
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After a series of mishaps, humanitarian aid trucks are now moving at a steady pace from the Gaza coast to the US military pier.
But many problems still lie ashore.
The U.S. military says it is now moving about 800 pallets of humanitarian aid into Gaza daily via makeshift docks or about 40 trucks. But for now, the aid is not helping to ease the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, where a new report says more than two million people are facing crisis, emergency or catastrophic levels of food insecurity. are
More than 6,000 pallets of aid delivered by the pier are stacked and awaiting pickup ashore, U.S. military officials said, as the World Food Program suspended aid receipts due to security concerns.
CNN was given access to the wharf for the first time on Tuesday after it first anchored off the Gaza coastline last month, where trucks were seen moving logistics ships across the wharf and onto the Gaza coast.
Leo Correa/AP
US Army soldiers stand next to trucks loaded with humanitarian aid on the US-made floating pier Trident before reaching the shore on the coast of the Gaza Strip on June 25, 2024.
The pier consists of interlocking floating platforms made of hundreds of tons of steel that rumble with each wave that passes under them. Tugboats on either side help keep the platform stable. An Israeli military division is charged with ensuring the safety of US military personnel and civilian truck drivers in the area, and the US C-RAM air defense system capable of intercepting mortars provides an additional layer of protection.
The visit also gave CNN rare access to witness the massive devastation of the nearly nine-month war on Gaza's coastline, with most buildings either flattened or heavily damaged.
CNN
The pier is part of a US-led effort to build a sea route for humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza.
In addition to the bombed-out buildings, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is once again becoming increasingly desperate, particularly in northern Gaza, where hunger is on the rise. Humanitarian aid operations in Gaza have been severely affected by an increase in Israeli military operations over the past month, and aid officials say lawlessness and looting are also on the rise.
The Israeli military says it has received hundreds of aid trucks arriving in Gaza recently, blaming the lack of capacity of humanitarian agencies to pick up and distribute the aid. But aid groups say their efforts are hampered by a lack of communication with the Israeli military, which risks getting them caught in the crossfire.
US President Joe Biden announced plans to build the pier during his State of the Union address, vowing that it would “massively increase” the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
But bad weather and rough seas have hampered that effort, damaging the pier and keeping it offline for the past month and a half to weeks.
The Pentagon has said it is committed to keeping the pier operational, despite reports it is considering shutting down the project altogether.
Pressing criticism from humanitarian aid groups that the $230 million U.S. effort would have been better placed to pressure Israel to get more aid into Gaza through land routes, the senior Navy officer involved in the operation, Capt. Joel Stewart told CNN it was the pier. Always intended to be a “surge response” and not a “long term solution”.
“The sea is a tough job – Mistress. Unpredictable. Every wave is different from the last, so it's a challenge to deal with,” he said, “but we've adapted to it and I think now We are in a better position than ever.”