The Pentagon declared an end to its sea-based humanitarian mission off Gaza, an effort that enabled delivery of tonnes of food and other supplies to the war-ravaged territory even as it faced near-constant setbacks and ultimately fell short of expectations.
“The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete,” Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the No 2 officer at US Central Command, which coordinates all US military operations in the Middle East, told reporters during a news briefing. The operation will shift to the Israeli port in Ashdod, where personnel will continue to facilitate aid deliveries, he added.
The floating pier project was announced by President Biden in March, with administration officials forecasting that it would allow for up to 2 million meals per day to reach starving Palestinians caught in the crossfire between Israeli military forces and Hamas militants.
The President, speaking then during his State of the Union address, said the scope of suffering and starvation in Gaza made the US mission a moral necessity, and he stressed that no US troops would go ashore – seemingly attempting to find a tenuous balance between putting Americans in harm’s way and idly standing by as famine compounded the war’s civilian toll.
