The temporary pier constructed by the US military to transport aid into Gaza broke apart and sustained damage in heavy seas on Tuesday, the Pentagon said, according to CNN.
The pier was “damaged and sections of the pier need rebuilding and repairing,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said. The pier will be removed from its location on the Gaza coast over the next 48 hours and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where US Central Command will carry out repairs, Singh said.
The repairs will take more than a week, further delaying the effort to get the maritime corridor fully operating.
Earlier, four US officials told CNN the pier broke apart in heavy seas.
Part of the pier, which consists of a narrow causeway to drive aid into Gaza and a wider parking area to drop off supplies transported by ship, disconnected on Sunday, the officials said. The parking area will have to be reconnected to the causeway before the pier can be used again.
The damage came three days after heavy seas forced two small US Army vessels to beach in Israel, according to US Central Command, while another two vessels broke free of their moorings and were anchored near the pier.
That incident took place two days after a US service member was hospitalized in critical condition after sustaining a non-combat injury while supporting humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The US military said last Friday that aid deliveries via the temporary pier in Gaza, aimed at ramping up emergency humanitarian assistance to the Strip, have begun.
The pier was successfully anchored a day earlier, with around 500 tons of aid expected to enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days.
President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address in March, announced the plans for the temporary pier on the coast of Gaza that would receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelter and provide aid to the Strip.
A day later, Biden said that Israel will provide security for the port he plans to build off the coast of Gaza that would provide aid to the Strip.