Yes, We're Building a Pier for Hamas

The U.S. military’s initial cost of the temporary floating pier off Gaza’s coast is about $320 million, a Pentagon official said Monday.

“We’ve been very clear this is a temporary solution to help get humanitarian aid into Gaza. This is just one other way of getting aid in,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.

The figure, first reported by Reuters, has not previously been disclosed about the operation that includes about 1,000 American troops.

The pier, known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, is meant to provide a new way to deliver badly needed aid into Gaza. The World Health Organization has warned some 2.3 million Gaza inhabitants face extreme hunger that could become a full-blown famine by next month as Israel continues its war against Hamas militants, who launched a surprise assault in October from the enclave.

President Joe Biden first announced the JLOTS operation on March 7 during his State of the Union speech. One day later, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the temporary pier would be operational within about 60 days.

Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said Thursday U.S. ships have begun construction on the pier.

The Army last month sent four ships from the 7th Transportation Brigade at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., toward the Mediterranean to spearhead the operation. The Navy, in addition to the Benavidez, deployed two more ships to help in the construction of the pier. One of those ships, the USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo was forced to return to the United States last week after suffering an engine room fire.

Ryder also confirmed there was a mortar attack in Gaza in the area where the pier will connect with the shore. But the strike, which happened Wednesday, caused “minimal damage.” U.S. forces were not impacted.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a statement Thursday referred to the mortar attack as “unfortunate but predictable.”

“This has been an ill-conceived mission from the start. President Biden should never have put our men and women in this position, and he should abandon this project immediately before any U.S. troops are injured,” Wicker said.

A senior military official, who spoke Thursday to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the U.S. has “full confidence” in the plan developed with the Israelis in the last month.