The inspectors general offices from the Department of Defense and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced Thursday they will jointly review the U.S.-built pier off Gaza‘s coast.
This review will be conducted in phases, the DOD said in a statement, noting that it will first assess the department’s role, responsibilities, and controls, while the second phase will be assessing its implementation.
USAID Inspector General Paul K. Martin said, “This initial review, in coordination with DOD OIG, will provide timely insight and transparency over the delivery of assistance via the maritime corridor.”
“The agreements between the DOD and USAID establish roles and responsibilities that help enable U.S. humanitarian assistance to reach Gaza through the maritime corridor,” said DOD Inspector General Robert P. Storch. “Given this, the DOD OIG and USAID OIG are working together to address the challenges associated with this mission. Through our collaboration, we will leverage the unique expertise, resources, and capabilities of our teams to optimize our oversight in this important area.”
President Joe Biden announced the plan to build a pier off Gaza’s coast during his State of the Union address back in early March. The intent was for the United States to provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza through as many routes as possible: by land through Israel, aerially through airdrops, and via the maritime route.
It took several weeks to build the pier and it has gone off line multiple times since becoming operational, in large part due to inclement weather.
Aid from across the globe is shipped to Cyprus where its put on large ships that go through the Mediterranean Sea. The aid on the ships gets offloaded onto the pier, where it’s then put on smaller U.S. military vessels, transported closer to shore, taken off the boats and put on trucks where it’s drive down the causeway to the beaches.
There are no U.S. troops on the causeway or in Gaza at all. At that point, the aid is under the purview of the United Nations and World Food Program. But, there have been significant difficulties getting aid distributed throughout Gaza as humanitarian workers have to be fearful of getting caught in the crossfire of the Israeli military, Hamas, or gangs.
“Look, there’s a lot of reasons why aid and assistance is being held up,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. “One of the principal reasons right now is criminal gangs that are operating particularly at Kerem Shalom. That’s not the Israelis’ fault. And as far as we know, these gangs have no connection to Hamas specifically.”
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Nearly the entire strip is facing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of food insecurity, according to a new report from report the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
The Pentagon initially estimated the pier project would cost roughly $320 million, though DOD officials have since said they believe it will cost approximately $230 million despite the pier sustaining some damage and requiring repair.