Republican lawmaker Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, officially addressed President Joe Biden's administration requesting the closure of the aid dock established by Washington off the coast of Gaza, describing the operation as ineffective, risky, and a waste of money. Biden announced in March, in response to the famine threat in the Gaza Strip, the establishment of the floating dock by the U.S. military as a means to bring in food and other relief supplies. The U.S. military was assigned the task of operating the dock until the end of July, but Isabel Coleman, deputy director of the U.S. Agency for International Development for policies and programs, stated this week that the administration may seek to extend the dock's operation for at least another month.
Rogers wrote in a letter, "I urge the administration to immediately halt this failing operation before another disaster occurs, and I call for exploring alternative means to send humanitarian assistance overland and by air." There had been no prior reports about the letter sent to Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Rogers has long opposed the establishment of the dock and previously called for its dismantling, but he had not expressed that opinion in an official address to the administration before.
The Armed Services Committee, chaired by Rogers, is the highest oversight committee for the Department of Defense (Pentagon) in the House of Representatives, and formal requests from its chairman typically require a response from Pentagon officials. Aid began reaching Gaza on May 17 for the first time via the dock established by Washington, with nearly all of the 2.3 million residents of the strip displaced due to Israel's campaign against Hamas. However, rough seas caused damage to the dock and necessitated repairs, and worsening weather conditions also reduced the dock's operating days. Most of the supplies that reached the shore were distributed by United Nations relief organizations, which state that insecurity hinders operations.
Rogers noted, "As of June 19, the joint logistics services operated on the beach for about 10 days and moved only 3,415 tons to the shore in Gaza," using the official name for the dock system. U.S. military data indicates that 8,332 aid loading panels were delivered via the dock as of Tuesday. However, about 84 percent of the panels are piled up in the staging area awaiting distribution by the United Nations. The World Food Programme suspended aid deliveries earlier this month for security reasons.
