Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder faced questions about the usefulness of the U.S.-built temporary humanitarian pier — with a $300+ million price tag for American taxpayers — and struggled to explain what has been accomplished in the days since the pier's construction was completed. Notably, the Pentagon does "not believe" any of the hundreds of tons of aid delivered so far has made it to those for whom it's intended.
Wow: Ryder says "I do not believe" any of the aid that's been delivered through the pier has actually gotten to the people of Gaza
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) May 21, 2024
In Tuesday's Pentagon press briefing, Ryder stated that more than 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance — donated by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, UAE, and other partners — had been delivered to the temporary pier and handed off from U.S. JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore) to be brought ashore by non-U.S. contractors to be placed in staging areas in Gaza before being picked up by NGOs for distribution to the residents of Gaza.
"Aid will be delivered to the floating pier, then transported via logistics support vessels, delivered to the causeway, and then put into assembly areas onshore and that's where NGOs pick up that aid and then further distribute it," Ryder said of the flow of humanitarian aid arriving via the Mediterranean coast.
Ryder emphasized that the pier is a "temporary solution" as the U.S. and its partners seek to "surge humanitarian aid" to Gaza but admitted there have been issues with the aid making its way from the staging area at the land-end of the bridge to residents of the enclave. Already, multiple aid trucks have been accosted by Gazans, raising what Ryder called "safety and security concerns" for distributors. He couldn't — or wouldn't — say how exactly many such trucks transporting aid were held up along their routes. Those incidents spurred the U.S., Israel, and the U.N. to "identify alternative routes" to move aid inland from the shore, Ryder added.
Despite previous projections from the Pentagon for the pier to begin with 90 trucks worth of aid moving ashore each day — building to a goal of 150 vehicles carrying humanitarian supplies per day — Ryder admitted that there had been just 26 trucks brought ashore via the pier since Friday. "This is a combat zone and it is a complex operation," Ryder explained of the consequences of the war sparked by Hamas on October 7. "We've been very clear from the beginning that we were going to take a crawl, walk, run approach."
The natural question: if 569 metric tons of aid have been delivered via the pier so far, how much of that has made it to those in need (read: ideally not Hamas terrorists who are known to fight and operate in plainclothes) inside Gaza? Ryder, again, was reticent to say.
"As it relates to the aid deliveries by the NGOs that are supporting this, I'd really have to refer you to USAID," Ryder answered to one such question about how much aid had made it from the pier into the hands of Gaza's residents. "You'd have to check with the World Food Programme," he replied to another attempt to get an answer. NGOs "have begun to put some of that aid into warehouses for onward distribution," he said as the badgering continued.
Finally, when pressed again as to whether he thought any of the 569 metric tons of aid delivered over the pier had been received by those for whom it is intended, he admitted "as of today, I do not believe so."