Before-and-After Satellite Images Show Destruction of Gaza Pier

New satellite imagery shows the extent of damage to the $320 million temporary humanitarian pier in Gaza after it was broken apart by rough seas less than two weeks after becoming operational.

The images below, provided by Maxar, show the pier's condition on May 26 compared to three days later. Less than a third of the pier remains intact, with no remnants of the deeper sections visible.

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday efforts to recover three of the four vessels of the structure after bad weather caused the motorized sections to run aground.

The damaged parts of the pier have been taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repairs by U.S. Central Command, which the military estimated will take at least a week.

Known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS), the pier — constructed in the middle of the eastern Mediterranean's windstorm season — requires very calm sea conditions to function. Since the project was announced in March, the Biden administration has faced criticism over the project and the significant logistical hurdles it faced, given that land crossings for aid are widely considered to be more effective.

The floating pier and its causeway, known as the Trident section, were anchored to the Gaza shore just north of the Netzarim corridor on May 10.

Just as the dock became operational a week later, reports emerged of a section breaking off, causing a temporary suspension of its use​​. One day later, eleven trucks were intercepted by desperate Gazans, and only five made it to the World Food Program (WFP) warehouse, causing the operation to be temporarily halted again.

After the Pentagon acknowledged that virtually none of the little aid that had been offloaded from the pier had reached civilians inside Gaza, a storm last weekend disrupted another transfer of supplies from four U.S. Army vessels at the pier, causing some vessels to break free from their moorings. U.S. troops aboard the beached vessels were evacuated the same day.

President Biden announced the pier project as a way to avoid famine in northern Gaza by providing seaborne access for assistance, as calls grew for Israel to ease access for relief supplies into the territory by opening more land routes.

Sen. Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, was among the critics to call the initiative a "failure" and suggest it be scrapped altogether, arguing that it unnecessarily risks American lives and resources.

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