Pentagon IG launches review of Gaza pier
Aid groups are struggling to meet the needs of Palestinians living in the territory as famine worries mount.
Two agency watchdogs announced Thursday they would open reviews into the U.S. military’s humanitarian pier in the Gaza Strip, as scrutiny mounts over the failure of aid to reach Palestinians in the territory.
The Department of Defense’s inspector general said it was opening “coordinated, independent oversight projects” with its counterpart at the U.S. Agency for International Development to assess their agencies’ roles in delivering and distributing aid to the Gaza Strip.
USAID’s internal watchdog will focus on the distribution side and evaluate how food aid has reached the agency’s key partner in the region, the United Nations’ World Food Programme. The Pentagon’s watchdog, meanwhile, will evaluate how effectively the military has facilitated the delivery of food aid.
“The DoD OIG and USAID OIG are working together to address the challenges associated with this mission,” Robert Storch, the Pentagon’s inspector general, said in a news release. “Through our collaboration, we will leverage the unique expertise, resources, and capabilities of our teams to optimize our oversight in this important area.”
The oversight efforts come as international observers continue to warn that the Gaza Strip is at risk of experiencing famine and that aid groups are struggling to meet the needs of Palestinians living in the territory.
Multiple checkpoints along the Gazan border have shuttered in the wake of Israel’s war against Hamas. Israeli officials have also stepped up searches of trucks at open border crossings, seeking to minimize the entry of weapons into the territory. But additional Israeli checks have slowed the entry of trucks into the territory from Israel, Jordan and Egypt carrying basic necessities, including food and medicine.
The U.S. sought to mollify domestic critics of Washington’s support for Israel’s war effort, first by distributing humanitarian aid via airdrops and later by installing a humanitarian pier that would be anchored to the coast of Gaza. But the maritime corridor has struggled, as rough seas have damaged the pier and aid deliveries wait for distribution on the shore due to security concerns.
Congressional Republicans have leaped on the pier’s troubles and blasted the endeavor as a wasteful project intended to shore up the administration’s poor poll numbers.