For his last State of the Union address in March 2024, then President Joe Biden announced the creation of a floating pier in Gaza, meant to provide aid to those in the region in light of the Israel-Hamas conflict. It was a mess from the start and ultimately became defunct. Biden was warned ahead of time, and Gazans didn't even want the pier. U.S. service members were injured, and one even died from his injuries. As it turns out, there were more injuries than was first disclosed.
On Tuesday, as Reuters reported, a Pentagon Inspector General report was released indicating that over 60 service members were actually injured.
As the report mentioned:
The pier, announced by Biden during a televised address to Congress in March 2024, was a massive endeavor that took about 1,000 U.S. forces to execute.
But bad weather and distribution challenges inside Gaza limited the effectiveness of what the U.S. military says was its biggest aid delivery effort ever in the Middle East. The pier was only operational for about 20 days and cost about $230 million.
...
But the new report by the Pentagon Inspector General said that the number was actually 62.
"Based on the information provided, we were not able to determine which of these 62 injuries occurred during the performance of duties or resulted off duty or from pre-existing medical conditions," the report said.
The pier became a sore point in Congress, where Republicans branded it a political stunt by Biden, who was under pressure from fellow Democrats to do more to aid Palestinians after months of staunchly supporting Israel's punishing war on Hamas.
...
The Inspector General said that the U.S. military did not meet the standards for the equipment.
"Nor did they organize, train, and equip their forces to meet common joint standards," the report said.
There's a lot to unpack there, including how Democrats were and still are in disarray over whether to support Israel after Hamas perpetrated a brutal attack against our ally in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, which is certainly where Biden being "under pressure from fellow Democrats" comes into play. Biden presented himself as a pro-Israel president, but he and his administration often tried to appeal to both sides and he also took actions against Israel as president.
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Israel has had a "punishing war on Hamas" because of that October 7 attack. Hamas terrorists not only brutally slaughtered 1,200 Israelis, but also engaged in rape, torture, and kidnapping. Many hostages still remain in captivity.
The pier was not only affected by bad weather, but indeed by "distribution challenges," as Hamas would steal aid meant for those in Gaza. The Biden-Harris administration finally acknowledged last May that aid was being stolen. Later the same month, the administration also communicated that they did "not believe" the aid had reached the people it was intended for.
As Doug P. covered at our sister site of Twitchy, many have taken to express their outrage over X, including CNN's Scott Jennings.
One of the biggest Biden embarrassments - the half baked Gaza Aid Pier. $230 million. 20 days in use. And now we find out it injured 60+ US soldiers. One soldier died! All to placate terrorists & their sympathizers in the Democratic Party. Insane scandal. @reuters 👇 pic.twitter.com/nPlZnVmMmt
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) May 7, 2025
All for a throwaway line in the state of the union to appease Hamas sympathizers. NUTS
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) May 7, 2025
Absolute travesty and scandal.
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) May 7, 2025
What I said when the Biden admin announced the Gaza Pier vs. What happened pic.twitter.com/s0fTuq0Yia
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 7, 2025
This should be a bigger scandal:
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) May 7, 2025
Biden blew $230 million of taxpayer funds building a Gaza pier to solve a fake aid shortage crisis.
Turns out 60 U.S. troops were injured making it happen—and somehow, that detail was buried until now. pic.twitter.com/uI4DwnP2aJ
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