The Pentagon said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant that the temporary naval pier off the Gaza Strip will soon stop working.

The ministry added that Austin stressed in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart the importance of supporting the delivery of aid to the port of Ashdod in Israel for distribution in Gaza.

She noted that Austin and Gallant affirmed their common desire to ensure the permanent defeat of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the release of all detainees.

The two ministers also discussed the ongoing attacks on Israel by Hezbollah, and opportunities to enhance US-Israeli military cooperation in response to regional security threats.

On March 8, US President Joe Biden announced the decision to establish a temporary naval pier, claiming that it would be used to deliver food and aid to the Palestinians, in light of Israel preventing aid from arriving through land crossings.

The pier was damaged by strong winds and waves that hit it on May 25, just over a week after it began operating, so it was removed for repairs.

On June 7, it was reinstalled and used for about a week, then removed again due to bad weather on June 14.

Days later, it was reinstalled, but the strong waves forced the American forces to remove it for the third time on June 28 due to bad weather conditions, and transported it to the Israeli port of Ashdod, to be reinstalled again days later.

Al-Rasif and the Nuseirat massacre

The United Nations suspended aid deliveries via the pier on June 9, a day after the Israeli army used the surrounding area to reach the Nuseirat camp, where it committed a massacre that resulted in the martyrdom of more than 270 Palestinians.

On June 10, the Pentagon denied that Israel used the floating dock during the operation that accompanied the recovery of 4 Israeli prisoners in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip.

On more than one occasion, the Pentagon said that the pier was just a temporary project designed to urge Israel to allow better aid flow via land routes, but the government office in the Gaza Strip confirms that the Israeli army used the floating pier in the operation with American complicity.