WhatsappThe Biden Gaza Pier project that cost American taxpayers $320 million has now finished its short history after it broke apart and floated to Ashkelon.
Joe Biden originally proposed that the US build a pier off the coast of Gaza during this year’s State of the Union address. According to Biden, the intention of the pier was to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gazans. This idea sounded great to many at the time, but never realistically made any sense. Humanitarian aid has been flowing freely into Gaza since the Israeli government voted on delivering it since the early days of the war. Hamas has been the only reason why “ordinary” Gazans have not gotten humanitarian aid.
So what was the real reason for the pier?
The real reason for the Biden Gaza pier was to check Israel’s reassertion of sovereignty over parts of the Gaza Strip. The most important part of the current war in Gaza to date has been Israel’s hold over what is being called the Netzarim Corridor, named after the destroyed Jewish village that existed there until 2005. The corridor has three bases, full electricity and is paved from its beginning at Kibbutz Be’eri until its end at the Mediterranean Sea.
The Netzarim corridor is essentially a finger of sovereign Israel in all but name that cuts the bottom two-thirds of the Gaza Strip from the top third where Gaza City is located. Biden’s Gaza pier sat at the end of the Netzarim corridor and acted as a sort of reminder that Biden’s team would do everything in its power to stop a return of Israel to the Gaza Strip.
Besides the symbolic presence of the American Army on the Gaza beach, a real concern within Israel, was a potential insertion of American soldiers into combat by way of the pier. Pictures of US military grade armored vehicles being dropped off on the pier bolstered these concerns.
With the pier now broken apart, Israel remains the sole power capable of establishing sovereign control over the Gaza Strip. Besides the Netzarim corridor, the IDF is busy creating a buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza by clearing out the Southern and Eastern areas of Rafah. Something similar is expected to take place between Khan Yunis and Rafah.
As the US election hits high gear, Biden’s team will find the need to pivot from Gaza. With the Biden Gaza pier becoming a $320 million failure, expect Jake Sullivan and the rest of the Biden team to take a far more reserved approach on Israel’s war against the Gazan Jihadists.
