The White House is facing continued scrutiny over the US Army's temporary pier in Gaza which sustained damage after just one week, as storms over the weekend rendered it inoperative for at least seven days while US Central Command forces make repairs.In a call with reporters on Wednesday, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said the White House believes that after repairs to the pier, it will still be possible to meet the goal of delivering 1,000 pallets of aid per day. “It’s still work worth doing, even if it’s difficult,” Kirby said.He said 300 pallets were delivered on the first day of operations and it would take time to work up to delivering the targeted 1,000 pallets per day. “It’s hard.
This is difficult, complicated work, particularly in a maritime environment that you can’t control. It’s not like on the ground where you can parcel off a piece of dirt and put a bunch of security around it and claim it and own it,” Kirby said. “This is water, and it can be an unforgiving environment. And that’s what these guys are facing right now.”
Kirby said it is important to remember that the pier is temporary, held in place by anchoring and adjacent vessels and it’s not rooted into the seabed with concrete pilings.“It’s literally on the water, and it’s in a maritime environment. Weather and maritime conditions absolutely play a role in the stability of the pier, and the ability of workers on that pier and truck drivers on that pier to use it,” Kirby told reporters.“And in the last week or so, the weather conditions in the eastern Mediterranean have not been conducive to safe operation of that pier.”According to the White House, the first week of operations was successful, with the delivery of more than 1,000 metric tons of aid from the pier to the marshaling area for onward delivery by humanitarian organizations.
Far less aid than what is needed
An UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) spokesperson said last week that UN agencies only picked up 200 trucks worth of aid, far less than what was needed.Kirby reiterated that the pier is not meant to replace aid delivery on the ground.He said the White House is “working diligently with our Israeli counterparts” to keep ground crossings open and to get more aid in through ground routes, which, he added, is the most effective way to get aid in volume and scale.President Joe Biden is committed to doing everything possible to increase and sustain humanitarian assistance, Kirby said.“Why wouldn’t we try this?” he asked.“If we had this capability and it was available to us, we had the knowhow and the expertise to do it, why would we leave that on the sidelines? Even if it can’t replace everything, even if we are still struggling with the Israelis from time to time on some of these crossings?”It’s the same with the air drops which are not substantial enough in quantity to match what can be delivered on the ground, he added.“But that doesn’t mean you don’t do it,” Kirby said. “You do the best you can and you add as much capability as you can.”