Former president Joe Biden’s floating pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza was far more dangerous and costly than the public knew, leaving over 60 troops injured and costing about $230 million, according to a newly released watchdog report.
Biden’s plan for a floating path to the hard-to-reach territory, which he announced during his State of the Union address in March 2024, was riddled with problems from the start.
The temporary pier took 1,000 troops to build, but was only operational for about 20 days due to poor weather and distribution challenges.
During the mission, 62 troops were injured, the Defense Department Inspector General said in its report.
While there were no deaths or known attacks on the pier, the Pentagon said three troops suffered non-combat injuries in support of the pier in May, with one of the service members getting medically evacuated in critical condition.
That service member, Army Sgt. Quandarius Stanley, died five months later, according to the Washington Post.
"Based on the information provided, we were not able to determine which of these 62 injuries occurred during the performance of duties or resulted off duty or from pre-existing medical conditions," the report said.
The pier, which the U.S. military claims was its biggest aid delivery effort to date in the Middle East, received harsh backlash from Republicans who deemed it a political stunt by Biden. Whereas Democrats had been piling on the then-president to provide more aid to Palestinians amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
While it brought desperately needed aid to Gaza, the makeshift floating pier had to be removed several times because of the weather. It also damaged over two dozen watercraft and other equipment, causing $31 million in repair and maintenance costs, the report found.
The Inspector General also said that the U.S. military did not meet the standards for the equipment used to construct the pier.
“Nor did they organize, train, and equip their forces to meet common joint standards,” the report read.
With Reuters contributions.
