Washington is not telling the truth about the Gaza pier: Report
Washington’s perceived goodwill may be misplaced, as the ‘caregiver’ isn’t providing anything. Claims of aid flowing into Gaza have been debunked by statistics revealing the population’s dire humanitarian situation.
The Biden administration claims the US is leading international efforts to deliver humanitarian relief to Gaza, asserting that supplies are “flowing to Palestinians” through the military’s pier operation, Responsible Statecraft wrote on Wednesday.
On Monday, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder announced that 1,573 tons of aid had been delivered from the pier to the beach, including 492 tons since it reopened on Saturday after the pier broke apart because of bad weather last month. However, these supplies aren’t reaching Palestinians and never really have.
Since the pier on the Gaza coast became operational on May 17, hardly any food has reached starving Gazans. The World Food Program (WFP) reported that only 15 trucks from the pier arrived at its Gaza warehouse for distribution between May 17-18, and no aid was delivered from May 19-21.
In Rafah, no aid will reach Palestinians as long as the Israeli occupation continues its aggression. On that note, the WFP halted all deliveries to Rafah on May 21 due to the Israeli invasion of the city.
On Sunday, the WFP announced it paused humanitarian aid distribution from the pier due to security concerns after a US-backed Israeli massacre killed nearly 300 Palestinians the previous day. WFP, the UN agency coordinating deliveries, stated that the 492 tons of aid the Pentagon mentioned will remain in warehouses until further notice, warning that all humanitarian operations in Gaza are on the brink of collapse.
However, the $320 million (revised down to $230 million) “maritime humanitarian corridor” announced by Biden during his State of the Union address in March is not effective, particularly for Palestinians. It serves the Biden administration’s interests by creating the appearance of “US assistance” to civilians, while supporting Israeli policies that harm and deprive them.
According to Responsible Statecraft, the pier serves as a humanitarian cover for an inhumane policy.
