US soldier dies of injuries sustained in Gaza aid pier debacle

Washington DC - A US soldier has died after being injured during Washington's disastrous attempts to establish a temporary aid pier on the coast of Gaza, a Pentagon official said Tuesday.

A US soldier involved in setting up a temporary aid pier off the coast of Gaza has died of injuries sustained during the ill-fated effort.
A US soldier involved in setting up a temporary aid pier off the coast of Gaza has died of injuries sustained during the ill-fated effort.  © Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies / AFP

The pier effort was supposed to boost deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian assistance into the war-wracked Palestinian territory, even as US-armed and backed Israel held up shipments by land.

The effort ran into repeated weather issues and the US embarrassingly ended it in mid-July, some two months after its installation, having had little effect.

"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, a recently retired motor transport operator," said Captain Shkeila Milford-Glover, spokesperson for the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command.

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She did not reveal when Stanley died or what kind of injury he had sustained, saying only that the soldier had been receiving treatment in a long-term care facility.

He was one of three US military personnel who suffered non-combat injuries at sea during the pier operation. The two others suffered minor injuries, a sprained ankle and a hurt back, the military said in May.

That month, the pier was damaged by bad weather and had to be removed for repairs. It was then reattached on June 7, but was moved to Ashdod on June 14 to protect it from anticipated high seas – a situation that was repeated later in the month.

Biden, who is reported to have personally insisted on the ineffective measure, announced the project with great fanfare during his State of the Union address in March as Israel held up deliveries of assistance by land.

It continues to do so – a fact that, taken together with its relentless mass killing of Palestinians, takes the assault on Gaza past the threshold of genocide according to legal experts, humanitarian organizations, and human rights groups.

Despite US law explicitly forbidding the provisions of weapons to countries that block the provision of aid, the Biden-Harris administration has unconditionally backed Israel militarily, diplomatically, and financially.

Cover photo: Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies / AFP

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