(Reuters) – The United States anchored a temporary floating pier on a beach in Gaza on Thursday to increase aid deliveries. President of the USA Joe Biden announced the plan for the pier in March as aid officials pleaded with Israel to improve access for humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza via land routes.
By opening a route for the delivery of aid by sea, the US hopes to combat the humanitarian crisis that has put hundreds of thousands of people at risk of starvation. Below is a timeline of events leading up to the arrival at the dock off Gaza.
March 7 – Biden says in his State of the Union address that the US military will build a temporary port on the Mediterranean coast of Gaza to receive humanitarian aid by sea. The announcement came as he seeks to calm anger among many in his Democratic Party over its support for Israel in its offensive into Gaza since October 7, given the high number of civilian casualties.
March 8 – The Pentagon says Biden’s plan could take up to 60 days to become a reality and involve more than 1,000 American troops. Authorities say a floating dock would be installed off Gaza and connected to land by a temporary bridge. The aid will be sent from Cyprus, where Israeli authorities will inspect it, as they currently do at land borders, to prevent anything entering Gaza that they consider to have possible military use.
April 3 – The US State Department says an attack that killed seven Work Central Kitchen aid workers on April 1 would not affect US efforts to build the pier.
April 25 – A United Nations team in Gaza visiting the dock site and staging area for maritime relief operations had to seek shelter in a bunker “for some time” after the area was attacked, a spokesman said. voice of the UN.
April 25 – The Pentagon says US troops have begun construction of the pier off the coast of Gaza, while international authorities warn of the risk of famine in northern Gaza. Concerns about the risk of American troops being caught up in the Israel-Hamas war were underscored when news emerged of a mortar attack near the area where the pier will eventually touch down. However, no US forces were present and Biden ordered US forces not to set foot on the Gaza coast.
April 29 – A US defense official says the cost estimate to build the pier has risen to $320 million, illustrating the enormous scale of the construction effort.
May 1 – The Pentagon says the US military has so far built more than 50% of the pier, which has several different components. “The floating dock has been completely built and configured. The bridge is underway,” a spokesperson said.
May 2 – The White House says the pier should be open in a matter of days, although bad weather hampers preparations.
May 3 – The US military said it was temporarily suspending offshore construction of the pier due to weather conditions and would instead continue building it in the Israeli port of Ashdod.
May 9 – The US-flagged ship Sagamore, carrying aid to be unloaded at the pier, departs the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, in the morning.
May 15 – A British shipment of almost 100 tons of aid left Cyprus for the temporary dock, the British Foreign Office says.
May 15 – The US military begins moving the pier toward the Gaza coast, a US official said.
May 16 – The pier is anchored on a beach in Gaza.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee, William Maclean)
