US pier that broke apart off Gaza is expected to resume operations on Friday, defense official says

The temporary pier constructed by the US military to transport aid into Gaza is expected to resume operations on Friday, a US defense official said.

The temporary pier constructed by the US military to transport aid into Gaza is expected to resume operations as soon as Friday and aid distribution will resume within the next day assuming all goes to plan, a US defense official said. The pier broke apart and sustained damage in heavy seas last week in a major blow to the American-led effort to create a maritime corridor for humanitarian supplies into the war-torn enclave. The pier is the result of months of work by US officials trying to come up with a way to get aid into Gaza in addition to dropping it out of planes or trucking it through border checkpoints Even though it was operational for only about a week, the pier helped deliver some 1,000 metric tons of aid into Gaza before breaking apart. The temporary pier, called the Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS), requires very good sea conditions to operate. It cost $320 million and had only begun operating on May 17. The JLOTS system consists of two parts: the floating pier where shipments will be offloaded and the causeway to transfer the shipments to the distribution point in Gaza. The damage last week came after significant obstacles on distribution routes including Hamas drones and looting that delayed the deliveries. As a result, the US military had to help USAID come up with alternative, safer routes for trucks leaving the marshaling area on the beach near the pier and traveling to the warehouses.