A US soldier leaves a cordoned-off area as other troops work on a beached vessel, used for delivering aid to Palestinians via a new US-built pier in Gaza, after it got stuck trying to help another vessel behind it, on the Mediterranean coast in Ashdod, Israel, May 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The newly repaired humanitarian aid pier off the Gaza coast reportedly cost American taxpayers at least $22 million.

Choppy seas shredded the pier to pieces last month, hindering efforts to transport additional humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave ruled by the Palestinian terror group Hamas. American servicemen then immediately began repairing the pier, whose construction was pushed by US President Joe Biden earlier this year, in the Israeli port city of Ashdod.  

While rebuilding the structure, US military officials assessed that the total cost in repairs might run up to $28 million, the Washington Post reported. Nonetheless, the Pentagon decreased the pier’s expected overall cost from $320 million to $230 million, citing low costs for contracted vehicles, drivers, and the loan of a British military ship. 

Sabrina Singh, a US military spokeswoman, shared that the overall cost of the pier could change, “depending on the length of the mission and future costs,” such as the need for additional repairs. Singh added on Wednesday that the pier is expected to complete repairs and resume operations “at the end of the week.”

On Friday, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, confirmed that the pier has been completely repaired and is ready to receive aid shipments. 

“I’m very pleased to announce that earlier this morning, in Gaza, US forces successfully attached the temporary pier to the Gaza beach. Israeli Defense Force engineers provided all the necessary support to ensure the safe emplacement of the pier to the beach,” Cooper told reporters. 

“We anticipate that our goal will be to deliver 500,000 pounds over the beach initially and then ramp that up soon thereafter,” Cooper added. 

The Biden administration greenlighted the construction of the pier in March to hasten the influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The administration cited the deteriorating conditions and a potential famine in the enclave amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. Though Israel has received international condemnation over the humanitarian condition in Gaza, Egypt has blocked its side of the Rafah crossing, slowing the flow of aid to Palestinian civilians. 

The pier has been a target for intense scrutiny since its construction. Critics argue that the pier has unnecessarily endangered American servicemen, citing critical injuries of US soldiers assigned to work on the structure. They also claim that any aid delivered across the pier is likely to end up in the hands of Hamas, which has long been accused of stealing aid meant for Gazan civilians.

So far, the pier has been ineffective in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. None of the 569 metric tons of aid delivered on the pier has been distributed to Palestinian civilians, according to the Pentagon. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid were ransacked and stripped clean by looters before reaching their destinations.