<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" lang="en-US" dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/06/the-story-of-the-u-s-floating-dock-built-from-the-rubble-of-gazas-homes/?ml_recipient=124206822907184239&ml_link=124206806904865919&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2024-06-15&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+RSS+Automation">mondoweiss.net</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The story of the U.S. ‘floating dock’ built from the rubble of Gaza’s homes</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Tareq S. Hajjaj</div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">June 14, 2024<br></div>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div>
<img src="cid:ii_lxg65xa50" alt="150324_Gaza_OSH_4_001-1536x1024.jpg" width="408" height="272"><br><p>The Trident, a U.S.-built “floating pier” off Gaza’s coast that is
expected to deliver over 150 trucks’ worth of humanitarian aid into Gaza
once fully operational, has been out of service for weeks. The port has
received damage to its infrastructure in unclear weather-related
circumstances, and on June 15 U.S. Central Command <a href="https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/1801724619843313842">released a statement</a>
saying that “the temporary pier will be removed from its anchored
position in Gaza and towed back to Ashdod, Israel” due to expected high
seas.</p>
<p>“The decision to temporarily relocate the pier is not made lightly
but is necessary to ensure the temporary pier can continue to deliver
aid in the future,” the statement read.</p>
<p>Despite this, the floating pier appears to have served as a joint command center for both Israeli and U.S. forces during the <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/06/i-heard-all-of-my-friends-last-breath-testimonies-from-the-nuseirat-massacre/">invasion and massacre at Nuseirat refugee camp</a> on June 8, which saw the retrieval of four Israeli captives.</p>
<p>The damage that rendered the Trident unusable ostensibly resulted
from heavy waves that affected parts of the port and four U.S. Navy
ships, according to U.S. Central Command. On the ground, Palestinians
believe that resistance groups have targeted the U.S. port with mortar
shells, but no resistance faction in Gaza has claimed responsibility for
any attack against the port. No other news has emerged to corroborate
the speculation either. </p>
<p>But one thing is becoming clearer. The Trident appears to be used to
facilitate the Israeli army’s invasions throughout Gaza. Francesca
Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine, <a href="https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/1799503174933372999">said</a>
that Israel “perfidiously” used aid trucks as cover during the Nuseirat
invasion, calling it “‘humanitarian camouflage’ at another level.” </p>
<p>Under international law, perfidy, or the “feigning of civilian or non-combatant status,” is considered a war crime.</p>
<p>Several Palestinian factions rejected the presence of the American
port on Gaza’s shores, while at the popular level, activists mocked the
port and circulated pictures of armored U.S. Hummer-type vehicles at the
pier. Some sarcastically commented that these armored Jeeps must be
there to protect canned beans, sauce, and food supplies.</p>
<p>The government media office in the Gaza Strip issued a press
statement about the American port, which officially entered operation on
May 17 before the weather rendered it unusable. The statement said that
the U.S. administration was trying to beautify its ugly face and appear
civilized by establishing a pier for the delivery of humanitarian aid. </p>
<p>“The U.S. says the goal is to bring humanitarian aid and food to our
Palestinian people in the Strip, who are exposed to policies of
starvation, forced displacement, and genocide carried out by the Israeli
army with the participation, involvement, and blessings of the American
administration,” the statement said. </p>
<p>The statement questioned the intentions of the American
administration, asserting that the Trident does not come close to
covering the need of the Palestinian people for food in Gaza.</p>
<p>“The port will not break the famine,” it said. “Instead, it will
allow the Israeli occupation to prolong this war, which has devoured
everything.”</p>
<p>When the construction of the port was first announced back in March,
the U.S. promised that American forces would not enter the Gaza Strip.
Biden said there would be “no boots on the ground,” and the U.S.
military’s presence would only be to facilitate delivery. The aid would
reach Cyprus by air or by sea, where it would be strictly inspected by
Cypriot customs officials, Israeli and American crews, and United
Nations representatives, before being loaded onto commercial ships and
sailing 320 kilometers to the Trident.</p>
<p>United Nations relief organizations would then receive and distribute
the aid to their facilities near the Gaza coast. After the first batch
of food was delivered through the American port in May, the United
Nations World Food Program assumed responsibility for distributing aid
inside the Strip. The WFP’s activities, however, have not been suspended
due to concerns for the safety of its teams.</p>
<p>This costly and complex logistical operation was conceived by the
U.S. administration as a workaround for Israel’s policy of starvation
and systematic blocking of aid through Gaza’s usual land crossings,
which are far more efficient and cost-effective.</p>
<p>The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) <a href="https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/humanitarian-access-snapshot-gaza-strip-1-31-may-2024">said</a>
Gaza should not depend on a costly floating dock that is easily damaged
by sea conditions. OCHA stressed that land routes remained the most
feasible means of delivering aid to the people of Gaza.</p>
<h2><strong>A port soaked in blood</strong></h2>
<p>During the ongoing genocidal war, the Israeli army destroyed entire
cities. Over 80% of Gaza City was leveled. Other parts of northern Gaza
and Khan Younis were also heavily hit, and continue to be. With over
13,000 missing people in Gaza, still stuck under the rubble,
Palestinians say the floating port, which the Israeli army filled with
the ruins of destroyed houses in the Gaza Strip, means that the
humanitarian aid passes over a port<strong> </strong>drenched in blood.</p>
<p>When Biden first announced the pier, the Israeli army began
collecting the rubble of homes in the Gaza Strip and placing it in the
port construction area so that the ruins would be a bridge for the
arrival of American aid trucks.</p>
<p>Political analyst and writer Nasser Eliwa raises an essential question regarding the American port: what is America’s endgame? </p>
<p>“Gaza today represents a high concentration [of interests] for the
American administration in the context of the future conflict over
power,” Eliwa told <em>Mondoweiss</em>. “The U.S. sees Gaza as the last
stage in a line of communication that stretches between India, Asia, and
the Arabian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. It is a port and a place to
collect, re-export, and rehabilitate gas for Europe. It is also a
reserve port for its fleets and aircraft carriers.”</p>
<blockquote><p>“This is what the U.S. wants,” Eliwa maintains. “It wants a permanent base on the eastern Mediterranean.”</p></blockquote>
<p>“This is what the U.S. wants,” Eliwa maintains. “It wants a permanent base on the eastern Mediterranean.”</p>
<p>Eliwa explains that three primary goals animate America’s policy
toward Gaza. First, it wants to allow Gaza to function as a base for the
naval fleets that feed and finance from the port of Haifa, or as an
alternative base in the event of a political shift in Israel. </p>
<p>Second, Gaza constitutes a meeting point for gas, whether in the
Mediterranean Sea or from what comes from the Gulf to the Mediterranean
coast. </p>
<p>“In the gas trade, the security of the gas flowing to Europe is
essential,” Eliwa explains. “America will therefore be a guardian of
Europe.” </p>
<p>Third, Gaza will be downstream of the Red Sea Canal, which is the route of the Gaza Valley.</p>
<p>“Gaza today is the new land that America occupies openly and clearly,
and this port is only the first step in this plan,” Eliwa said.</p>
<p>The American port can therefore be seen as a first milestone in a
process of transforming the political geography of the Gaza Strip. Eliwa
explains that the floating pier will soon become a giant port, and that
it is not unlikely that Arab countries will supervise it in exchange
for the reconstruction of Gaza. He explains that the presence of the
port would facilitate closing all of Gaza’s crossings, eliminating the
civilian population’s reliance on other land crossings.</p>
<p>“Today, aid enters,” Eliwa says. “And some of it may bring in
commercial materials, then reconstruction materials, and there may be
travel for individuals. These are speculations, but they may seem
closest to reality.”</p>
<p>He adds that Gaza now has an independent entry point for the U.S.,
which can land marine forces, relief, food, and commercial materials
into the Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, Mondoweiss published a report quoting an
intelligence source from within the Gaza resistance, which believes that
the Trident will eventually be used to facilitate the displacement of
Palestinians from Gaza based on humanitarian grounds.</p>
<p>These are fears that are echoed by people in Gaza. Many expect that
the port will facilitate the process of displacing people from the Gaza
Strip across the sea, which is expected if the war continues and the
American port serves as a means of transportation. “If this port
provides people with freedom of movement, thousands of people from the
Gaza Strip will want to travel and return to trade, study, or visit,”
Eliwa said. “If this port continues to exist, it will redefine the Gaza
Strip in the geostrategic sense.”</p>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>