
The Pentagon on Monday pushed back on what it said were “inaccurate” reports on social media that Israel used the US-built pier off Gaza during the mission to rescue hostages held in Gaza over the weekend, The Hill reported.
US officials have said American intelligence was used to help rescue the four hostages in the Israeli military operation.
However, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Monday the pier was not used for the special operation to rescue the four hostages, adding he was seeking to dispel “some of the inaccurate social media allegations” about the raid.
“The pier facility, including its equipment, personnel and assets, were not used in the [Israeli military’s] operation to rescue hostages in Gaza,” Ryder said, according to The Hill. “Any such claim to the contrary is false.”
Ryder acknowledged “there was some type of helicopter activity” near the pier, but he referred further questions to the Israeli military as to the nature of their operation because it was “not associated” with the US-pier operation.
The Pentagon spokesman said he would not “get into specifics on details in terms of what intelligence support may or may not have looked like,” and he stressed there was no US military involvement in the rescue operation, nor were there any American troops on the ground.
This past Friday, US Central Command announced that the US military-built pier designed to carry aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the beach after a section broke apart in storms and rough seas.
The section that connects to the beach in Gaza, the causeway, was rebuilt nearly two weeks after heavy storms damaged it and abruptly halted what had already been a troubled delivery route.
The pier was only operational for a week before a storm broke it apart. Before it broke apart, the pier had been gradually increasing aid movement each day.
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.