JERUSALEM – The rising cost of a floating ferry off the coast of the crisis-hit Gaza Strip – intended to enable shipments of humanitarian aid to reach stranded civilian populations in the central and northern parts of the Palestinian enclave – has sparked controversy in its wake. It was revealed this week that the project will cost the US more than $320 million.
on Tuesday US Central Command Photos were posted on the
However, some have questioned the effectiveness of the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) pier after the Pentagon revealed on Monday that the estimated cost would be nearly double the original estimate of $180 million. It also said that the project would be in use only temporarily for a period of three months.
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US Central Command posted that “construction of the JLOTS floating pier is underway in the Mediterranean Sea.” (centcom)
one in statement on x, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., called the project “ill-conceived”, and wrote that “the cost hasn’t just gone up. It’s exploded.”
“This dangerous effort with little benefit will now cost American taxpayers at least $320 million to operate the pier for just 90 days,” he wrote. “How much will taxpayers lose once or if the pier is built? Every day that this mission continues, the cost increases and the level of risk increases for the 1,000 troops deployed within range of Hamas rockets.” Is. .”
“During the State of the Union address, President Biden announced that he has directed U.S. forces to launch an emergency mission to establish a sea corridor and floating pier in Gaza, working with like-minded countries and partners “Continuing efforts to increase U.S. assistance coming to Gaza by land, air, and sea,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. flow directly into Gaza by sea as part of the
“This temporary ferry will bring much-needed aid to Gaza, but I want to be clear: this work is in addition to our other ongoing efforts to continue and expand land-based assistance,” the spokesperson said.
The pier is being built to deliver aid to Gaza. The pier was first announced by President Biden during his State of the Union speech earlier this year. (Centcom/Getty Images)
According to a report by the Guardian, the aid will arrive at the pier in commercial ships coming from Cyprus. From there, the pallets will be loaded onto trucks, which will then travel onto small vessels that will take them on a floating two-lane route to shore. The first shipment is expected to arrive next week.
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The project, which the Pentagon said plans to prepare 2 million meals a day for people in Gaza, has also raised concerns about security, especially for US troops who will be based aboard aircraft carriers and off the coast.
Responding to a question asked by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., during a House Armed Services FY25 budget hearing on Tuesday regarding the potential for threats facing the approximately 1,000 U.S. servicemen and women working to construct the pier, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said they would all be armed and, if attacked from Gaza, they would have “the right to retaliate to defend themselves.”
Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, told Fox News Digital that the big question was who would operate the pier once the construction process was complete.
“Once the pier is built, American troops will no longer be there and the pier will be operated by others,” he said. -A large-scale war with Israel, if allowed to persist, would seek to sabotage the project.
An Egyptian truck driver replaces a tarpaulin covering humanitarian aid after being checked on the way to Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing after arriving from Egypt in Kerem Shalom, Israel, December 22, 2023. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Michael said, “As long as Hamas exists, as long as they are in power in parts of Gaza or are able to operate militarily, they will not be able to operate unless it is brought directly under their control.” “is not kept in.” He claimed, “If the Americans give the Qataris the right to operate the pier, it means that Hamas will actually operate the pier through a local company.”
Michael said the pier project directly contradicts another US goal related to the seven-month-old war in Gaza: Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas,
According to reports this week, the US hopes that Hamas, which still controls the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, will agree to the terms of a newly drawn up ceasefire agreement to release some. 133 mortgage It also released hundreds of Palestinian militants held in Israeli prisons in exchange for Israeli troops withdrawing from all or most of the area during their October 7 attacks.
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Six humanitarian aid trucks carrying aid from the World Food Program enter the northern Gaza Strip from Israel. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
“US pressure on Israel to accept all of Hamas’s demands may mean that the IDF will not be there to secure the pier; on the other hand, the US expects the IDF to secure the pier once it is ready – How will these two concepts work together?” Michael said.
“If the IDF is there to protect the pier, that means they will need to be there to secure the transfer of humanitarian aid from the ships to the pier; then to the trucks; and then to the trucks to take them to the distribution centers and To help secure distribution inside the Gaza Strip,” he said. “Ultimately, this means a permanent presence of the IDF on Gaza soil.”
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) international spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told media over the weekend that the JLOTS project was extremely complex, not only because it is located in a war zone, but also because of the volume of aid that would be entering Gaza.
Hamas militants are seen during a military show in the Bani Suhayla district in Gaza City, Gaza, July 20, 2017. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
“This is not a simple operation, and the IDF is involved in many parts of it,” he said, adding that Israel was “very committed” to the effort and that it would be in addition to a sharp increase in aid. They have been entering Gaza by land and air for the past few weeks.
“Aid to Cyprus will be scrutinized, just like it is scrutinized everywhere else,” Shoshani said, referring to Israel’s security operations at crossings from Egypt to Gaza and from Jordan to the West Bank and back to Gaza.
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Trucks with humanitarian aid bound for the Gaza Strip enter from Egypt on Saturday, October 21. (AP/Fatima Shabair)
“I don’t know how they plan to change this in the long term, but the provision of aid that is approved and vetted by a fellow European country is a big step forward from relying on Egypt to handle this task,” the senior Jonathan Schanzer, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, told Fox News Digital.
“If the Cyprus Channel can be institutionalized, and egyptian border can be secured both above and below ground, this could prevent Hamas from re-arming in the years to come,” he said. “If it can be strengthened and made permanent, This will be a net benefit for the entire region. ,
