Special: A prominent US Republican requests that the Biden administration close the Gaza aid pier

The head of the House Armed Services Committee, a Republican, has written to the Biden administration to publicly request that it close its aid port off the coast of Gaza. The letter describes the operation as unsafe, inefficient, and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

The U.S. Navy built the offshore floating pier off the coast of the enclave as a means of bringing in food and other relief supplies. Biden unveiled the pier in March in response to the possibility of hunger in the Gaza Strip.

It can be used by the U.S. military until the end of July, but an official from the U.S. Agency for International Development stated this week that the government may try to keep it open for at least one more month.

Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers wrote a letter that was obtained by Reuters that said, “I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery.”

The correspondence, addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, has not been made public before.

Although Rogers has long opposed the pier and urged for its demolition, he has never before formally voiced his opinions in writing to the authorities.

His House of Representatives armed services committee is the Pentagon’s principal oversight body, and formal inquiries from its chairman have always required a response from Pentagon officials.

On May 17, aid started to enter Gaza through the pier constructed by the United States. Nearly all of the 2.3 million residents of Gaza have been forced to flee their homes due to Israel’s war against the Islamist group Hamas.

However, severe weather has reduced the number of days the pier has been open for business, and choppy waves have damaged the pier and necessitated repairs. UN relief organizations claim that instability has hindered their ability to operate, and as a result, they have not yet delivered the majority of the goods that have reached the coast.

“As of June 19, JLOTS—the acronym for the pier system used by the U.S. military—had only been operational for about 10 days and had moved 3,415 metric tons onto the beach in Gaza,” Rogers wrote.

As of Tuesday, 8,332 pallets had been delivered via the dock, according to statistics from the US military. However, over 84% of them have been waiting to be collected by the UN for distribution in a marshalling area off the shore of Gaza.

Due to security concerns, the World Food Program suspended deliveries early this month.

Pallets of aid were being unloaded from a vessel onto the 1,200-foot (370-meter) long U.S. military-run pier outside Gaza on Tuesday, when Reuters was granted exclusive access. The pier swayed about with the approaching waves. After that, trucks delivered the pallets to the coast.

A little over 1,000 US military troops are involved in this intricate operation. According to the Pentagon, the first ninety days of operation will set you back roughly $230 million.

Rogers added that throughout the operation, three US service men sustained non-combat injuries.

“I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery,” Rogers stated in a letter.