US Army & Navy Build Floating Platform Off Gaza Strip to Help Palestinians

By Olawale Abaire, Warrior Contributor

In a significant move, the U.S. military, encompassing both Navy and Army forces, is spearheading a project to construct a floating platform off the Gaza Strip’s coast. This initiative aims to expedite the delivery of much-needed aid to the besieged region. The Pentagon has projected the operation’s cost to be no less than US$320 million.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, has clarified that this figure is a preliminary estimate, accounting for the transportation of necessary equipment and pier sections from the U.S. to Gaza and the costs associated with construction and aid distribution.

Last week, a U.S. military official confirmed that construction had commenced on the Benavidez, which is positioned at a safe distance offshore to protect the troops involved in the platform’s construction. On Monday, Singh stated that the project’s next phase involves the construction of a causeway, which will subsequently be anchored to the beach.

U.S. and Israeli officials have expressed hopes of operationalizing the floating pier, with the causeway attached to the shore, by early May. The Pentagon reiterated on Monday that the operation would cost at least $320 million.

The U.S. military’s plan involves loading aid onto commercial ships in Cyprus, which will then sail to the floating platform currently under construction off Gaza. The aid will be transferred onto trucks, which will then be loaded onto smaller ships destined for a metal, floating two-lane causeway. This 550-meter causeway will be attached to the shore by the Israeli Defense Forces.

An American Army engineering unit has recently collaborated with an Israeli military engineering unit to practice the installation of the causeway, conducting training exercises on an Israeli beach up the coast.