Joe Biden Gaza pier fiasco left 62 US forces injured, one dead and caused $48 million in damages: report
The project, which Biden announced during his 2024 State of the Union address amid mounting protests on the left over Israel's war against Hamas, sought to deliver humanitarian aid to the terrorist-controlled enclave — but ultimately was functional for just 20 days before being abandoned.
The Defense Department Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) report, released late Tuesday, found that the military services were not adequately prepped for the mission — dubbed Operation Neptune Solace — but the project moved ahead despite the Army and Navy facing 'low equipment mission-capable rates and low manning and training levels.'
'The Army and Navy did not allocate sufficient maintenance, manning, [or] training,' according to the report, which also found that the services 'did not organize, train, and equip to a common joint standard' for the so-called 'joint logistics over-the-shore' (JLOTS) operation.
The disjointed nature of the effort contributed to 27 watercraft and other paraphernalia suffering damage costing $31 million to repair, the report found, as 'Army- and Navy-specific equipment, including watercraft, piers, and causeways, as well as command, control, and communications systems was not interoperable.'
This week's report follows a similar review by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of the Inspector General from August 2024 — which found Biden charged ahead with the $230 million pier despite the urgings of multiple federal aid workers.
Army officials interviewed by the DoD OIG noted that 'the lack of interoperability created challenges during (the Gaza operation), resulting in equipment damage and communications security risks,' according to the report.
US Central Command reported 62 injuries during the course of Operation Neptune Solace, though the report said it was unclear whether they happened 'during the performance of duties or resulted off duty or from pre-existing medical conditions.'
The Pentagon had previously confirmed that three service members were injured May 23, 2024, as the result of a non-combat incident during the operation.
One of those injured, Army Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, 23, died Oct. 31 while under long-term medical care.
The Biden White House had expected that it would allow delivery of enough provisions to feed an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians over a three-month period.
But the pier ultimately delivered less than a third of that for roughly 450,000 Palestinians before it was decommissioned on July 17, according to the USAID report.
The report also found serious issues with the planning of the operation, noting the pier's designers 'did not fully consider mission-specific information requirements, such as beach conditions, average sea states, and other factors that affect the ability to successfully plan and conduct JLOTS operations.'
A Pentagon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Originally published as Joe Biden Gaza pier fiasco left 62 US forces injured, one dead and caused $48 million in damages: report
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
5 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Albanese receives no clarity from China on military expansion or east coast aggression
Former Army director general Retired Brigadier Ian Langford discusses a lack of explanation received from the Chinese government regarding recent maritime aggression. 'We really didn't achieve any acknowledgement from the Chinese, as it relates to things that concern us,' Mr Langford told Sky News host Peta Credlin. 'Some of the maritime aggression we saw off the east coast some months ago, we haven't had a clear explanation on the purpose around military expansion in the way we are seeing. 'The period we are moving into now demands more Australian statecraft, demands more expertise and more real agility into how we manage our economic and security relationships.'
The Advertiser
10 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'Countless' Gazans killed while awaiting aid: UN agency
A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks, the Rome-based World Food Programme says. Shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, a 25-truck convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies, the UN agency said on social media platform X. "As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire." The incident, on Sunday morning local time, resulted in the loss of "countless lives" with many more suffering critical injuries, the WFP said. "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza." Local health authorities reported 67 Palestinians were killed, while Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 58 dead and at least 60 injured. The Israeli military said warning shots had been fired amid "an imminent threat" and expressed doubts about the reported casualty figures. The details of the incident are currently being investigated, the military said, but added an initial review indicated that the reported casualty figures do not match the information provided by the army. The information could not be independently verified at first. WAFA, citing medical sources, reported that 132 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including 94 aid seekers. The UN and aid organisations report catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip, whose almost two million residents are almost entirely dependent on aid to survive. Gaza residents have been subjected to almost 22 months of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to UN figures, hundreds have died in the vicinity of aid distribution points and around aid convoys since the end of May. WAFA put the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 at at least 58,895, with more than 140,980 injured. The agency cites Palestinian medical sources for its figures. The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from an army spokesman, who called on residents to leave the area in a post in Arabic on X. The Israeli military continues "to operate with intensity to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area and is expanding its activities into new areas," the army said in a statement. "For your safety, immediately evacuate southward toward Al-Mawasi." Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the embattled area was designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone" earlier in the war. However, the Israeli military has since also attacked there multiple times. The army said targets included facilities of Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the mass displacement order had dealt "yet another devastating blow" to the Gaza Strip. Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites, the UN office said. The newly designated area included several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure, it said. "Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences." A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks, the Rome-based World Food Programme says. Shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, a 25-truck convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies, the UN agency said on social media platform X. "As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire." The incident, on Sunday morning local time, resulted in the loss of "countless lives" with many more suffering critical injuries, the WFP said. "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza." Local health authorities reported 67 Palestinians were killed, while Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 58 dead and at least 60 injured. The Israeli military said warning shots had been fired amid "an imminent threat" and expressed doubts about the reported casualty figures. The details of the incident are currently being investigated, the military said, but added an initial review indicated that the reported casualty figures do not match the information provided by the army. The information could not be independently verified at first. WAFA, citing medical sources, reported that 132 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including 94 aid seekers. The UN and aid organisations report catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip, whose almost two million residents are almost entirely dependent on aid to survive. Gaza residents have been subjected to almost 22 months of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to UN figures, hundreds have died in the vicinity of aid distribution points and around aid convoys since the end of May. WAFA put the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 at at least 58,895, with more than 140,980 injured. The agency cites Palestinian medical sources for its figures. The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from an army spokesman, who called on residents to leave the area in a post in Arabic on X. The Israeli military continues "to operate with intensity to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area and is expanding its activities into new areas," the army said in a statement. "For your safety, immediately evacuate southward toward Al-Mawasi." Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the embattled area was designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone" earlier in the war. However, the Israeli military has since also attacked there multiple times. The army said targets included facilities of Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the mass displacement order had dealt "yet another devastating blow" to the Gaza Strip. Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites, the UN office said. The newly designated area included several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure, it said. "Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences." A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks, the Rome-based World Food Programme says. Shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, a 25-truck convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies, the UN agency said on social media platform X. "As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire." The incident, on Sunday morning local time, resulted in the loss of "countless lives" with many more suffering critical injuries, the WFP said. "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza." Local health authorities reported 67 Palestinians were killed, while Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 58 dead and at least 60 injured. The Israeli military said warning shots had been fired amid "an imminent threat" and expressed doubts about the reported casualty figures. The details of the incident are currently being investigated, the military said, but added an initial review indicated that the reported casualty figures do not match the information provided by the army. The information could not be independently verified at first. WAFA, citing medical sources, reported that 132 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including 94 aid seekers. The UN and aid organisations report catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip, whose almost two million residents are almost entirely dependent on aid to survive. Gaza residents have been subjected to almost 22 months of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to UN figures, hundreds have died in the vicinity of aid distribution points and around aid convoys since the end of May. WAFA put the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 at at least 58,895, with more than 140,980 injured. The agency cites Palestinian medical sources for its figures. The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from an army spokesman, who called on residents to leave the area in a post in Arabic on X. The Israeli military continues "to operate with intensity to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area and is expanding its activities into new areas," the army said in a statement. "For your safety, immediately evacuate southward toward Al-Mawasi." Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the embattled area was designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone" earlier in the war. However, the Israeli military has since also attacked there multiple times. The army said targets included facilities of Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the mass displacement order had dealt "yet another devastating blow" to the Gaza Strip. Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites, the UN office said. The newly designated area included several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure, it said. "Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences." A large number of starving people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks, the Rome-based World Food Programme says. Shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, a 25-truck convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies, the UN agency said on social media platform X. "As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire." The incident, on Sunday morning local time, resulted in the loss of "countless lives" with many more suffering critical injuries, the WFP said. "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza." Local health authorities reported 67 Palestinians were killed, while Palestinian news agency WAFA reported 58 dead and at least 60 injured. The Israeli military said warning shots had been fired amid "an imminent threat" and expressed doubts about the reported casualty figures. The details of the incident are currently being investigated, the military said, but added an initial review indicated that the reported casualty figures do not match the information provided by the army. The information could not be independently verified at first. WAFA, citing medical sources, reported that 132 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including 94 aid seekers. The UN and aid organisations report catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip, whose almost two million residents are almost entirely dependent on aid to survive. Gaza residents have been subjected to almost 22 months of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to UN figures, hundreds have died in the vicinity of aid distribution points and around aid convoys since the end of May. WAFA put the death toll from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 at at least 58,895, with more than 140,980 injured. The agency cites Palestinian medical sources for its figures. The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from an army spokesman, who called on residents to leave the area in a post in Arabic on X. The Israeli military continues "to operate with intensity to eliminate terrorists and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area and is expanding its activities into new areas," the army said in a statement. "For your safety, immediately evacuate southward toward Al-Mawasi." Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the embattled area was designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone" earlier in the war. However, the Israeli military has since also attacked there multiple times. The army said targets included facilities of Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned the mass displacement order had dealt "yet another devastating blow" to the Gaza Strip. Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites, the UN office said. The newly designated area included several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure, it said. "Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences."
West Australian
15 hours ago
- West Australian
Top NATO official says China's rapid nuclear build-up poses a deterrence challenge to the US
One of NATO's top officials says China's rapid nuclear build-up poses a deterrence challenge to the United States amid warnings China and Russia could embroil the West in a two-front war as early as 2027. Pentagon official, Jim Stokes and now the head of NATO's Nuclear Policy, made the comments, speaking exclusively to The Nightly in an interview for the Latika Takes podcast. China has added around 100 new warheads to its stockpile since 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, meaning its nuclear arsenal is the fastest-growing in the world. The Institute said China currently has around 600 nuclear warheads and could potentially have at least as many Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) as either Russia or the USA by the 2030s. China has previously said it had no comment on the Institute's estimates and claimed it does not participate in an arms race. Mr Stokes said one explanation for China's quest to stockpile so many nuclear weapons could be to acquire leverage 'if it ever tries to do anything vis-a-vis Taiwan.' 'That does present a deterrence challenge to the United States and all of its allies in terms of how do you potentially deter conflict in two regions and perhaps simultaneously in the Indo-Pacific region and also the Euro-Atlantic region,' Mr Stokes said. 'A lot of people are talking about what that two-nuclear peer challenge would look like.' Last week, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich warned that the Alliance's 32 members must be ready for the possibility that Russia and China could launch wars in Europe and the Pacific simultaneously, possibly in 2027 — the same year that China's President Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready to take Taiwan, with force, if necessary. There are nine nuclear-armed countries in the world: the US, UK, France, China, Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, India and Israel, which does not publicly acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons. Asked specifically what Australia, which is not a member of NATO but a partner country, should do in light of China's nuclear build-up, Mr Stokes recommended deepening engagement with NATO and drawing the United States, Australia's top security ally, closer. 'I would say for Australia, while it's good to have dialogue with other Indo-Pacific nations and European nations and other nations from around the world, talk to the United States, continue to cultivate that bilateral relationship there,' he said. 'And if it's a discussion about nuclear issues, that's the power that you should be talking to. 'Engage with the United States and have an understanding about how it is thinking through nuclear strategy and posture, doctrine and capabilities. 'In much the same way, the US has had a more structured dialogue with Japan and also with South Korea in recent years about nuclear issues. 'It's similar in the way that we have consultation mechanisms within NATO about nuclear issues. 'That's one way non-nuclear states can have a better understanding of these things and also some influence or some input into the decision making of nuclear powers by having those relationships and being able to talk about these things, to be able to have their input into, say, policies or any decisions that may be made, and then also be able to better explain it to their own populations.' He also urged engagement with NATO to show combined political will and come up with ways to 'tackle some of these really hard deterrent and defence challenges that we face.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese skipped NATO this year for the second year in a row, despite being one of only four leaders from the Indo-Pacific invited to the annual leaders' summit. He has taken two international trips since his 94-seat landslide, opting to meet the Pope at the Vatican and last week spending six days in China visiting President Xi Jinping with his fiancée Jodie Haydon, to promote deepening business and tourism ties with Beijing. By contrast, he has not visited the White House or met Donald Trump since his re-election last November and inauguration in January. The opposition's foreign spokeswoman, Senator Michaelia Cash urged the Prime Minister to strengthen, and not diminish, the US Alliance. 'We have known for some time that the world faces myriad strategic challenges,' Senator Cash said. 'Mr Albanese has said we live in the most dangerous strategic circumstances since World War II. 'The Opposition has continually called on Mr Albanese to do two things – lift Australia's spending on defence and focus his international attention on securing the AUKUS alliance. 'At a time of global uncertainty, now is a time to strengthen the US-Australia alliance by building our influence in Washington, not diminishing it.' The Prime Minister's Office declined to comment when asked if Mr Albanese raised China's nuclear build-up with President Xi during last week's marathon trip. Mr Stokes said China remained coy on why it was building such an enormous stockpile in peacetime and that while Beijing claimed to have a 'no first-use' policy of using nuclear weapons, it was to be treated with scepticism. 'That buildup … and the diversity of weapons and the delivery systems and why, what is that really for?' Mr Stokes said. 'They're not going to pull some document off the shelf and say, what did it say, what did Chairman Mao talk about back in the 1960s? 'They tried to use that to promote the fact that their nuclear deterrent is peaceful, but then they're using it to obfuscate the fact that they're also building up. 'Ultimately, I believe that decision-making is made by the Chinese President, and so I don't know that any leader is going to feel beholden to some doctrine that's written somewhere. 'They're going to make decisions perhaps in a crisis situation or even a conflict situation based on the advice that they're given, based on their own beliefs.' He said, unlike Western nuclear powers, the US, UK and France, China had never engaged in bilateral arms control talks, risk reduction measures or hotlines. 'There's a lot more that we could do with China if they had it in their interest, but they've shown they're clearly not willing to do that,' he said. Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Penny Wong told the Institute for Strategic and International Studies on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that China was projecting its military power further into the region. 'And we have seen the worrying pace of China's nuclear and conventional military buildup without the transparency that the region expects,' Senator Wong said.
