Journalists get unusual glimpse of US military’s damaged fertilizing machine in Gaza

Off the coast of Gaza – wooden pallets sit idle under the scorching sun – provisions of rice, flour and other non-furnished goods are going unused as Palestinians face imminent famine.

The pieces have been brought to the bombed Gaza beach using an American-made ferry machine. However, for more than two weeks, backup has remained on the beach because fighting between Israel and Hamas has made it too bad to hand over to UN teams.

NBC News was among a group of newcomers who got access to the pier for the first hour. It is a tight space and the conditions are difficult for the soldiers moving on it. Even light waves bounce across the carrier’s individuals as the pier’s saw-like objects collide with each other, creating a noisy, creaking sound.

President Joe Biden announced the horse-drawn pier and floating dock machine in his State of the Union address in early March. It was a central part in a temporary effort to feed the hungry masses in Gaza, where Israel’s military offensive had intermittently closed the crossings that had blocked access to supplies of food, gas and alternatives. Is most important for. Backup.

However, since its last phase out, it has been beset by poor climate and rough seas, hampering maintenance and delaying backup supplies. The pier was operational for just one day before a large section of the bridge was destroyed by strong winds and large waves on 25 May.

“Challenges continue to arise and their scope may increase,” the military said. Colonel Samuel Miller.

The US military has provided backup using the $220 million Pierce machine in only 17 of the last 40 days. That’s about 14 million pounds of food, officials said, but most of it hasn’t left the beach.

For Palestinians like the 25-member Asila community, food is scarce.

“We live in a tent and eat canned food, and our children stand in line to get water,” said Safiya Hamdan Asila. Help is not always available.

Even when the seas are calm, the transfer of aid from water to land presents a logistical challenge. In the nearby country of Cyprus, supplies are loaded onto US military ships and delivered to floating docks off the coast. They are then transferred to fixed piers, where they are placed in trucks and driven to the beach via a US-built causeway.

Even when aid trucks are able to pick up food packages, they sometimes face problems. Some aid has failed to reach its intended destinations as civilians desperate for food have raided and vandalized trucks.

While Gaza remains an active war zone, the pier has not been targeted.

“We learned a lot from this mission,” Miller said. “This has never been done before. We’re right in front of a war zone, technically a war zone.”

“The soldiers are proud to do this,” he said. “They feel that their purpose and meaning is to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”

Army Sgt. Ibrahim Barry is one of 1,100 soldiers involved in the effort. He said he got personal satisfaction from being part of the effort to feed people in distress, especially during the month of Ramzan.

“Being able to provide that assistance definitely helps me and makes me feel like I’m helping people in need,” said Barry, who is Muslim.

It is unclear how long the pier can operate in Gaza, but according to US officials, it is likely to be dismantled in the next month or so.

There are possible options to change this.

The US is working on a plan to deliver humanitarian aid through the Israeli port in Ashdod. And Fogbo, a private company made up of retired US military and UN officials, says it can replace the floating ferry system with a more stable and reliable system in a matter of weeks.

Fogbo’s plan, which it calls Blue Beach, relies on a movable pier that is anchored to the beach in Gaza and has a crane attached to lift the aid directly onto the beach, negating the need for trucks.

“The sea corridor is a vital component in reducing suffering,” said Mick Mulroy, vice president of Fogbo. “While aid can certainly reach through Ashdod and then be transported to Gaza, doing so presents additional challenges, as we have already seen. This route underlines the need for continued access to multiple land and sea channels.

Once operational, Blue Beach can deliver up to 9,000 pallets of aid per week, The scheme will be funded by donations, primarily from the Maritime Humanitarian Aid Foundation, which is run by Cameron Hume, a former US ambassador to several countries.

White Space officials and Israeli government officials were briefed on the plan, but officials said they had made no plans to give it any importance.