US-built $320 million floating pier in Gaza collapses due to extreme weather

The floating dock built by the United States military on the Gaza coast for $320 million has collapsed due to weather and strong waves, according to the Israeli business website Calcalist.

The U.S. Defense Department’s Pentagon estimates that it will take more than a week to repair the floating dock, parts of which will be transported to the Port of Ashdod in southern Israel.

The Times of Israel emphasized that since the pier became operational, waves have washed four sections of the pier into the area between Ashkelon and Ashdod, where they were towed back to the pier on the Gaza coast.

“These events reveal the complexity and difficulty of implementing the U.S. plan and the sea corridor operation from Cyprus to Gaza,” the report said.

Israel’s Channel 12 television described the suspension of work on the pier as a “great shame” for the Biden administration’s efforts to increase humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Since May 17, approximately 900 tons of humanitarian aid supplies in 137 trucks have entered the Gaza Strip through the floating port, the channel reported, adding that on Saturday, several U.S. ships were damaged by rough sea conditions. Some of them had run aground, and the pier was also damaged but continued to operate.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that the operation of the floating dock had been briefly suspended pending repairs.

Two U.S. military officials told the Wall Street Journal that the floating dock may not be suitable for Gaza’s weather and sea conditions.