Biden ignored internal warnings against building Gaza aid pier: report

WASHINGTON (AA) – President Joe Biden ignored warnings from his staffers in order to approve a floating pier off the Gaza coast that was meant to facilitate aid deliveries, according to a report published Tuesday.

Multiple officials within the US’s humanitarian aid agency, USAID, raised concerns that using the temporary pier would distract from diplomatic efforts to push Israel to lift its restrictions on overland aid deliveries, USAID’s Office of the Inspector General said in its report.

It said “multiple USAID staff expressed concerns” that focusing on the pier, known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS), “would detract from the Agency’s advocacy to open land crossings in Israel and Egypt,” which were deemed to be “more efficient and proven avenues for delivering aid to Gaza.”

Biden announced during his State of the Union address in March that he had ordered the construction of JLOTS. The announcement came after months of diplomatic wrangling failed to convince Israel to loosen its restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza via its border crossings with Gaza.

“Once the President issued the directive, the Agency’s focus was to use JLOTS as effectively as possible,” the inspector general’s office said.

The US military announced the end of the pier’s mission on July 17 after a series of disasters that led to the pier being repeatedly towed to an Israeli port for repairs.

The pier was functional for just 20 of the planned 90 days, the watchdog said, noting the pier fell “short of meeting the US government’s goal of providing enough aid to feed 500,000 people per month, or 1.5 million people over 3 months.”

Ultimately, only enough food to feed 450,000 people for one month was delivered. ​​​​​​​