What a farce ..

https://thecradle.co/articles/us-mulls-dismantling-gaza-aid-pier-for-second-time-in-two-weeks

The US military is considering temporarily dismantling the pier it constructed off the coast of Gaza and moving it back to Israel amid concerns that rough seas could once again break it apart, CNN reported on 14 June.

Earlier this month, the fragile pier and causeway system, known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS), broke apart due to heavy waves and had to be towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod to be repaired.

It was moved back to Gaza last week, and operations resumed on Saturday. However, were paused again on Monday and Tuesday due to heavy seas. Poor weather and rough waters are again expected this weekend.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) aid distribution operations at the pier have been suspended.

WFP Director Cindy McCain announced on Sunday the organization was pausing its work there after the Israeli army used the area next to the pier to extract by helicopter four Israelis rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

Israeli forces massacred 274 Palestinians during Saturday’s rescue operation, which included executing Palestinian civilians with gunfire in their homes and bombing densely populated civilian areas with airstrikes to provide cover for the rescue team’s escape.

“Right now, we’re paused because I’m concerned about the safety of our people after the incidents yesterday,” WFP’s McCain told CBS on Sunday.

The operations will remain paused pending a risk assessment.

But very little aid has entered Gaza via the US-built pier, raising questions about why US President Joe Biden ordered it to be built.

Aid workers say that delivering enough aid to avoid famine throughout the strip is only possible through land crossings from Israel and Egypt.

“A very expensive distraction,” one humanitarian aid official said of the pier.

The Rafah crossing from Egypt, the main entry point for aid, has been closed since 7 May as Israel launched an offensive to take the border city of the same name.

The Center for Responsible Statecraft noted that by the end of May, “66,181 fewer pallets of food reached Palestinians in May compared to April. The pier, which opened May 17, didn't come close to compensating for this shortfall: According to the IDF, just 1,806 pallets of food from the pier reached aid agency centers in Gaza before it broke apart in a storm on May 25.”

Israel has also killed humanitarian workers and Palestinian police accompanying aid convoys with drone strikes and gunfire.

Humanitarian officials tell CNN that there is still no effective deconfliction method to protect aid workers.

Last month, the lead prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their efforts to block food from reaching Gaza. The ICC alleged the two are guilty of the crime of “extermination.”

In December, the rights group Amnesty International said Israeli leaders were using starvation as a weapon of war against the people of Gaza.