(CNN) — US Central Command released images of a floating dock being built by the US military off the coast of Gaza that, once completed, will help deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to the starving population of devastated Gaza.
Construction of the temporary dock began at sea last week and images show the crew of several military vessels constructing the platform. Furthermore, a satellite image from Planet Labs shows the pier under construction.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday that the pier will cost the US about $320 million.
That estimate includes all costs associated with the initial construction of the system, known as Joint Logistics Over the Shore, or JLOTS. The cost of operating the dock will likely increase in the coming months.
PHOTO:::::The temporary dock is intended to help deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. (Credit: US Central Command)
A senior military official stated last week that the US is “on track to begin delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza from the sea in early May,” which will begin with the equivalent of 90 trucks a day of aid and then “increase rapidly” to 150 trucks per day once full operational capacity is reached.
The official said the U.S. military is prepared to carry out the mission “for several months,” but stressed that there will be no U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza, something President Joe Biden ruled out when he announced plans for the dock in March. .
Instead, the Israel Defense Forces will collaborate with the US military to anchor the causeway to the Gaza coast “from day one,” the military official explained.
PHOTO::::: The US military is likely to operate the pier for at least the next three months, US officials previously told CNN. (Credit: US Central Command)
US officials previously told CNN that the US military will likely run the pier for at least the next three months, but the ultimate goal is to turn it into a full-time commercial operation that can be used by other countries and non-governmental organizations.
Meanwhile, the British Navy support ship RFA Cardigan Bay was sailing from Cyprus to support construction efforts at the temporary dock, according to a Royal Navy statement on Saturday.
The British ship will provide “accommodation for hundreds of American sailors and soldiers working to establish the dock,” the navy said.
Once established, the World Food Program (WFP) will support aid distribution from the dock, the organization said Saturday, and USAID will work with the United Nations to distribute the aid once it arrives in Gaza.
CNN previously reported that the aid will arrive from Cyprus via commercial ships, which will travel about 200 miles to the floating dock anchored miles off the coast of Gaza. The aid will then be transferred to smaller military ships, each holding about 15 aid trucks, which will transport it to the causeway anchored offshore.
The construction of the pier comes as the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorates and the death toll from Israeli bombing increases.
PHOTO::::: The construction of the pier is seen in this satellite image from April 27, 2024. (Credit: Planet Labs, PBC)
Gaza’s 2.2 million people lack enough food to eat, with half the population on the brink of starvation and famine imminent, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
Concerns have also grown over a planned Israeli military operation in Rafah, south of Gaza, prompting renewed calls for a ceasefire to ensure an uninterrupted flow of aid.
Israel’s allies, including the United States, have warned against the operation because of the potential for large-scale civilian casualties. The news comes after 22 people, including at least one baby and a young child, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Rafah overnight on Monday, according to hospital sources.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared this Monday that there has been “measurable progress” in the arrival of aid to Gaza, but that it is “not enough” to address the humanitarian crisis.
Human rights agencies have repeatedly warned that the severe restrictions imposed by Israel on aid deliveries mean that it barely reaches the strip. Before the war, some 500 trucks of supplies entered the Palestinian enclave daily.
A ceasefire and hostage exchange are being negotiated, and Hamas is studying a new framework proposed by Egypt that calls on the group to release up to 33 hostages held in Israel in exchange for a pause in hostilities in Gaza, according to an Israeli source familiar with the negotiations and a foreign diplomatic source told CNN.
Israel is awaiting a response from Hamas, which was scheduled to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Monday, the sources said. A working Israeli delegation of intelligence agencies and military officials is expected to travel to Cairo on Tuesday, the Israeli source and another Israeli official said.
— CNN’s Amy Cassidy and Zeena Saifi contributed reporting.
