2024-05-01 23:27:03
The cost of constructing a temporary port for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip will reach $320 million. This was reported by Reuters, citing sources from the American military and legislators, Day.Az reports citing TASS.
According to them, the cost of building the facility has almost doubled compared to initial estimates made in early 2024.
“The cost has not just gone up, it has skyrocketed,” Senate Armed Services Committee member Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) told the agency. He called the construction of the port “a dangerous undertaking that will bring little benefit.” Wicker and several other lawmakers believe the initiative would increase the burden on American taxpayers.
On April 25, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said that the US military had begun constructing a temporary port to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. According to US authorities, the temporary port will increase the volume of aid delivered in light of a possible invasion by the Israel Defense Forces into the city of Rafah in the south of the enclave.
On March 7, US President Joe Biden announced that Washington was creating a temporary port in Gaza to supply humanitarian aid to the enclave by sea. The Pentagon said that US troops will not disembark from ships in the sector while delivering aid.