A truck transports humanitarian aid onto U.S. Army vessel in the Mediterranean Sea on May 20, 2024. (Riley Anfinson/U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON — A U.S. soldier injured while helping move aid to the temporary pier off the coast of Gaza has been taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas and remains in critical condition, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The soldier and his family were transported Tuesday by military aircraft from Israel to San Antonio where the hospital is located. The injury happened on a ship that was not docked at the pier. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said she did not have further information Wednesday.
The soldier was one of three U.S. service members injured working on the pier mission. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said last month that the service members suffered minor, noncombat-related injuries, but one was taken to an Israeli hospital for an undisclosed issue. CENTCOM later revealed one service member was in critical condition.
Singh also said Wednesday that the Pentagon hopes to re-anchor the floating pier later this week and expects humanitarian aid to “flow pretty immediately.”
The Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, pier is meant to provide another way to deliver needed aid into Gaza. The World Health Organization has warned some 2.3 million Gaza inhabitants face extreme hunger as Israel continues its war against Hamas militants who launched a surprise assault in October from the enclave.
The pier became operational on May 17, but the Pentagon announced less than two weeks later it would be removed to undergo repairs after suffering damage from rough seas and bad weather.
The suspended use of the pier comes after more than 1,000 metric tons of aid had been delivered.
Singh said the Pentagon has also reassessed the cost of the pier, which was originally estimated to be approximately $320 million. Lower-than-expected costs for contracted trucks, drivers and commercial vessels, and the United Kingdom’s contribution of a birthing vessel for soldiers and sailors have lowered the U.S. price tag by about $90 million.
The latest cost assessment includes repair and rebuilding of the pier.
