Biden Signed Off On Chaotic Gaza Aid Pier Despite Warnings It Would Likely Backfire, Investigation Finds

President Joe Biden gave the green light to build the now-infamous Gaza aid pier despite warnings that the plan could misfire, according to an investigation report released on Tuesday.

The $230 million floating pier, built by the U.S. military in May at the behest of the Biden administration, served as a causeway for aid delivery via a maritime route in the Mediterranean Sea, but faced immediate security and weather-related challenges and was forced to close early in July. Pentagon and U.S. officials warned of these challenges before the pier was opened, but the Biden administration moved forward with the operation regardless, according to an investigation report released by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Inspector General (OIG).

“From the start, rough weather posed a major challenge to the success of operations,” the report reads, noting that the pier was never designed to operate in the Mediterranean’s often choppy and high-state sea conditions. “At the planning kick-off meeting a expert discussed weather issues and structural challenges to the pier’s sustainability.”

Security problems also hampered the pier’s ability to get aid into Gaza, according to the report. The top aid organization on the ground in Gaza stopped making deliveries from the pier landing site in June due to these problems, which included “multiple instances of looting after aid was collected from the beach and transported into Gaza, attacks on warehouses, and drivers being detained or shot.”