Austin presses Gallant on Gaza aid as US readies to dismantle beleaguered pier

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a call with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stressed the importance of Israel increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza as the US gears to soon shut down the temporary pier that it established off the Gaza coast.

The pier was a largely failed project announced by US President Joe Biden in his State of the Union earlier this year. It cost some $230 million and was only operational for several weeks after being hampered by choppy weather conditions.

The Pentagon has defended the project, noting that it still enabled the delivery of 8,100 metric tons of aid, but Biden admitted disappointment last week that it hadn’t been more effective.

In today’s call, Austin “stressed the importance of increasing the flow of humanitarian assistance through all land crossings and supporting aid deliveries to Ashdod Port in Israel for onward distribution in Gaza,” the US readout says.

US officials have said that while a lack of aid getting into Gaza was once the issue, more recently the problem has been distributing that aid throughout the Strip amid increased lawlessness.

Austin and Gallant also discussed ongoing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah along with “military cooperation in response to a range of other regional security threats.”

“Secretary Austin and Minister Gallant reaffirmed the shared desire of ensuring the enduring defeat of Hamas and securing the safe release of all the hostages held captive by Hamas, including American citizens,” the US readout says.