Gaza pier remains in Israel's Ashdod port, says Pentagon

The US-built pier designed to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza remains in Israel due to high sea states.

The pier built by the US military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza has not been re-anchored yet, the Pentagon said Monday.

"It was disconnected late last week. It was moved to (Israel's Port of) Ashdod for the high sea states. The pier remains in Ashdod right now," spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.

Last Friday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) once again removed the temporary pier from its anchored position off the coast of Gaza and towed it back to Ashdod, Israel.

"We're still assessing when it can be re-anchored when sea states calm a bit," Singh added.

Since the pier became operational on May 17, more than 8,831 metric tons or approximately 19.4 million pounds of humanitarian aid was delivered through the maritime corridor for distribution to the people of Gaza by humanitarian organizations.

"In terms of the distribution, you did see that some distribution did start back up over the weekend. It is going to take a few days to move some of that aid out of the marshaling area that had built up over time," Singh said, adding the aid is slowly moving out of that marshaling area.

The $230 million pier, meant to boost deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, has paused operations several times.

President Joe Biden ordered the establishment of the sea route to deliver food and aid to Palestinians on March 8 amid Israeli restrictions and months of conflict in the enclave.