US defense secretary: No signs Hamas plans to attack our troops building Gaza pier
Lloyd Austin says measures being put in place for safety of US personnel, as ‘this is a combat zone and a number of things can happen’
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said he sees no indication that Hamas plans to attack US troops currently building a floating pier to help humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Austin said, “I don’t discuss intelligence information at the podium, but I don’t see any indications currently that there is an active intent to do that.”
However, he added that adequate measures are being put in place for the safety of the approximately 1,000 US Army and Navy military personnel there, stating, “This is a combat zone, and a number of things can happen.”
On April 25, the Israeli military said members of a terror group in the Strip launched mortars in the area as the pier was undergoing construction and while United Nations officials were touring the site with Israeli troops.
The IDF said the UN officials were rushed to a shelter by troops amid the attack, but there were no injuries. “The terrorist organizations continue to systematically harm humanitarian efforts while risking the lives of UN workers, while Israel allows the supply of aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.
No group claimed responsibility for the mortar fire. A Hamas official told The Associated Press that the terror group would resist any foreign military presence involved with the port project.
The US military has no presence on the ground in Gaza.
The port sits just southwest of Gaza City, a little north of a road bisecting Gaza that the Israeli military built during the war.
Israel recently stepped up efforts to deliver aid by land and opened up new ground routes, including opening up the pedestrian Erez Crossing to aid trucks for the first time on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said 50% of the pier had been completed. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists, “The floating pier has been completely constructed and set up. The causeway is in progress.”
On Thursday, White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby said the pier should be open within a matter of days, despite poor weather hampering preparations.
Plans for the pier — which the Pentagon said would cost at least $320 million, nearly double the initial estimate — were first announced by US President Joe Biden in early March.
