THE UNITED STATES is to wind down its problematic operation to deliver aid into Gaza through a temporary pier.
The White House’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan today announced that, after less than two months in full operation, the US plans to pull the plug on the shipments altogether.
“I don’t have an announcement for you today [...] But I do anticipate that in relatively short order we will wind down pier operations,” he told reporters at a press briefing in Washington D.C. today.
Since the beginning of the operation the $230 million-aid-delivery plan has been plagued with problems including stampedes, distribution difficulties and, recently, the temporary structure sinking after high seas.
The UN World Food Programme, which has been delivering aid to the much-needing citizens of Gaza since the beginning of the conflict, suspended its assistance to the programme to assess the security situation.
The UN-backed aid group were wary that the site could become a target for Israeli military after the Israeli Defence Forces had conducted an operation nearby last month.
Asked if the US viewed the operation as a success, Sullivan said: “Look, I see any result that produces more food, more humanitarian goods getting to the people of Gaza as a success.
“It is additive. It is something additional that otherwise would not have gotten there when it got there. And that is a good thing.”
He added: “And if the pier hadn’t happened, if that food wouldn’t have gotten in, for me it’s hard to think about why one would object to that.”
Yesterday, Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said efforts to reattach the pier yesterday after it had sank were unsuccessful. In a statement to the AFP news agency, he confirmed the operation would come to an end shortly.
Citizens in Gaza are still suffering through a brutal conflict that broke out after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October last year. That attack resulted in the death of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has been ongoing since the attack in October, has killed at least 38,345 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from Gaza’s health ministry.
Today, fighting and further bombardments shook Gaza’s biggest city, an AFP correspondent said, even after Israel’s military declared an end to its operation in an eastern district that saw Gaza City’s heaviest combat in months.
The upsurge in fighting, bombardment and displacement has come as talks are being held in Qatar, towards a truce and hostage release deal after more than nine months of war.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded today that Israel retain control of key Gaza territory along the border with Egypt – a condition that conflicts with Hamas’ position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a ceasefire.
Contains reporting from © AFP 2024
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