Government officials warned President Joe Biden that his plan to build a humanitarian pier off the coast of Gaza would face major challenges, but Biden pushed the $230 million plan anyway, an internal report reveals.
Biden promised, during his March State of the Union address, to open a pier to deliver humanitarian aid to the two million-plus people in the war-torn Gaza Strip. At the time, "multiple USAID staff expressed concerns" that rough waves posed major challenges for the project, according to an inspector general report published Tuesday. Biden’s focus on the pier also undermined the agency’s advocacy for opening more on-land pathways for aid—which the report deemed "more efficient and proven."
Despite the agency’s objections, the White House pressured USAID to build the pier, which survived a mere 20 days. From the start, the operation was plagued by rough weather and security problems that significantly limited the amount of aid flowing into Gaza. Humanitarian aid groups criticized the project, calling it ineffective and wasteful.
When Biden first presented his "maritime corridor" idea, USAID officials said that the pier system "was not an option USAID would typically recommend in humanitarian response operations," the report noted. Under pressure from the White House, however, the organization began looking for ways to use it "in a way that would maintain a separation between the military and humanitarian actors" in Gaza, the report said.
The inspector general's report cited numerous "external factors"—including rough seas, inclement weather, and the Pentagon’s security requirements—that it said hindered the agency’s effort to distribute supplies delivered via the pier, the Washington Post reported.
Although USAID typically leads the U.S. government's humanitarian assistance overseas, the report found that the agency had "limited control" over various aspects of the Gaza pier, such as where it would be located and who would provide security.
The pier was permanently shut down last month after only three weeks of operation. The corridor helped the U.S. military deliver just 137 trucks of aid into the region, but several of the trucks never reached the civilian population.