Three US Servicemembers Have Non-Combat Injuries in Gaza; on the Other Hand, No Aid Is Getting Through

By streiff | 8:01 PM on May 23, 2024

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U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) and Sailors attached to the MV Roy P. Benavidez assemble the Roll-On, Roll-Off Distribution Facility (RRDF), or floating pier, off the shore of Gaza, April 26, 2024. The temporary pier will assist the United States Agency for International Development in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, which will increase the quantity and flow of humanitarian aid, including food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters. (Credit/Courtesy: DOD)

Three U.S. service members have been injured supporting operations at the US Army's over-the-shore logistics operations on the Gaza coast. None of the injuries were combat-related, but one servicemember is in critical condition and has been medevaced to an Israeli hospital. The evacuated servicemember was injured aboard the MV Benavidez, a Navy-owned and operated roll-on-roll-off ship. The other two have returned to duty.

Joe Biden announced the pier to a stunned nation on March 7.

BACKGROUND:

Biden to Announce US Will Build New Port in Gaza for Aid Deliveries During SOTU Speech – RedState

A Man, a Plan... A Temporary Port in Gaza? Are You Nuts?

Because the US Navy doesn't have heavy-lift ships stationed on the East Coast, small US Army ships took until April 26 to reach Gaza. The construction of the pier facility took another twenty days.

Biden has promised "no boots on the ground," but the pier has been subjected to mortar fire on at least one occasion.

BACKGROUND: Biden's 'Humanitarian Aid' Pier Off Gaza Gets 'Humanitarian' Mortar Barrage From Hamas

The US has stationed a counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) system near the pier.

The US has put the C-RAM defense system on the port in Gaza pic.twitter.com/E8WG5kwK5F
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) May 22, 2024

Much to no one's surprise, the pier operations have been suboptimal.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder expressed doubts that any of the aid delivered to the new U.S. floating pier has actually reached the people in Gaza.

The floating pier reportedly cost around $320 million to build. pic.twitter.com/e3BDqYuNUl
— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) May 22, 2024

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday that more than 569 metric tons of aid had been delivered to Gaza via the pier, called a Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore operation, or JLOTS, but that it did not appear that any of it had actually been delivered to the starving residents of Gaza.