Satellite images obtained by Fox News Digital show that the U.S. military’s temporary pier installed on the coast of Gaza earlier this month has been destroyed after choppy weather battered it apart. The $320 million structure had been used as a conduit for delivering aid to Gaza, but less than a third of the pier remains intact, and there is no sign of the remnants of the deeper sections of the structure.
Four vessels that had stabilized the pier broke off due to choppy waters earlier this week, leading to the deterioration. Of the four stabilizing vessels that detached earlier this week, two of the boats floated northward and landed on a beach in Ashdod, Israel, while the two others remain anchored at the beach near the pier.
The pier’s failure comes as Israel conducted a sizable operation in Rafah, with tanks rolling into the heart of the city for the first time since the war began. Witnesses in Rafah told Reuters the Israeli military appeared to be using remote-operated armored vehicles, as there was no immediate sign of personnel in or around them. The Israeli Defense Forces did not comment on those reports.
President Biden’s administration says it is working to repair the pier, but they offered no timeline for completion. While the pier has been used to transfer roughly 569 metric tons of aid into Gaza, none of that aid had been delivered to Palestinians as of last week, the Pentagon confirmed.
