Tag: Israeli Navy

$320 million US pier collapses in Gaza, drifts to Ashdod (Video)

Ms. Cat4 Comments
Source

Strong waves have swept away a section of the American floating pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip, heading towards the shores of Ashdod, as per Israeli media.

$320 million US pier collapses in Gaza, drifts to Ashdod (Video)

Related:

U.S. ‘Floating Pier’ for Gaza Damaged by Choppy Seas

Four boats stabilizing the $320 million structure detached, U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East, said Saturday. Two of them floated northward, eventually landing on the beach in Ashdod, Israel, it said. Two others are now anchored on the beach near the pier, the military said, adding that the dock is still operational despite the damage. It said that no U.S. military personnel would enter Gaza.

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The damage to the dock is only the latest setback in the U.S.’s attempt to deliver aid via the sea for the first time since the war began in October. Shipments at the floating pier began this month and are expected to scale up. Roughly 820 tons of aid were delivered through the floating dock in its first week, the U.S. government’s official international development arm USAID said, a number that is about 20% below the Pentagon’s initial target.


Separately, three U.S. troops were injured on the pier this week in accidents, the Pentagon said, including one seriously. No U.S. troops were injured during Saturday’s incident, the U.S. military said.

The Gaza Maritime Route Was Netanyahu’s Idea, Maritime Aid Corridor Will Advance the Overthrow of Hamas, & When Will US boots be on the Ground in Gaza?

Ms. Cat

Diplomatic source to ‘Post’: Gaza maritime route was Netanyahu’s idea

According to the source, on October 22, two weeks following the war’s outbreak, Netanyahu discussed with President Biden the concept of “delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza via the sea, contingent on an Israeli inspection in Cyprus.”

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Years before the Gaza war, Israel Katz, now the Foreign Minister, had drawn up plans for a maritime route via Cyprus involving a floating island.

The project was never executed. But he revived it after the war began on October 7. 

Related:

Gallant: Maritime Aid Corridor Will Advance Overthrow of Hamas

“The process is designed to facilitate aid directly to civilians and in this way, it advances [our goal] of overthrowing Hamas’ rule in Gaza,” the minister said.

“We will facilitate aid via the maritime route that is coordinated with the United States (security and humanitarian aspects), with the assistance of the United Arab Emirates on the civilian side,” he said. “It will include the appropriate inspections in Cyprus, and the goods will be brought by international organizations with American assistance.”

Air, sea, and land: When will US boots be on the ground in Gaza? Authored by Yonah Jeremy Bob*

Then suddenly, last Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced that the US would also supply maritime aid to Gaza, including building a makeshift artificial port off the coast.

This already imposes a long-term US military footprint in Israeli-Gaza territorial waters rather than a “mere” series of fly-throughs.

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How hard would it be for a small complement of US Marines accompanying the aid deliveries to travel a kilometer or so into Gaza and to place themselves squarely in the middle of where Israel does not want them?

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Moreover, US forces have been and are already on the ground.

US generals and counter-terror experts have been in and out of Israel since the start of the war, including visits to Gaza.

There are also a variety of US military personnel regularly in Israel on military and intelligence exchange programs.

US attempts to reform the PA

Speaking of intelligence, multiple times when a decision was made to try to improve and reform the Palestinian Authority security forces, it was the CIA and US special forces who came to the West Bank and Gaza to help train and prepare these forces.

It seems quite likely that the Jewish state, at some point, will ask Washington to perform the same service again in Gaza.

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A broader version could involve a US-led peacekeeping force handling internal Gaza security for an indefinite period until enough Gazan Palestinians disconnected from Hamas can be convinced that taking on this role will not lead to them being slaughtered later by a resurgent Hamas.

From this perspective, the question about US forces on the ground in Gaza seems less of an if than it does a when, how many, and under more or less coordinated circumstances with Israel.

*Yonah Jeremy Bob was raised in Baltimore and graduated from Columbia University and Boston University Law School, respectively. He previously worked for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli Military International Law Division, and the Israeli Justice Ministry. – Wikipedia

Equal Rights to Commit War Crimes

Ms. Cat

Under a canopy of darkness, the roar of bullets punctures the silence of the night along Israel’s borders. The Caracal Battalion, a mixed-gender combat unit of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), is engaged in an intense firefight. At the helm of this tumult is Lt.-Col. Or Ben-Yehuda, leading her troops against the relentless onslaught of Hamas terrorists. This night, they emerged victorious, reportedly eliminating nearly 100 militants, thus defying any lingering doubts regarding the capabilities of female combat soldiers.

The Caracal Battalion: A Testament to Female Combatants’ Capabilities

Previously:

Israeli forces shot their own civilians, kibbutz survivor says

Justice For Liberty

Ms. Cat

produced by If Americans Knew.

Aug 16, 2022 – On June 8, 1967, Israeli forces tried to sink a U.S. Navy ship, the USS Liberty, killing 34 American servicemen and wounding 174. ‘Justice for Liberty’, filmed at the crew’s 54th anniversary reunion in Pensacola, Florida, allows the survivors to tell the American public their stories, some for the first time. It is time for the truth to come out. Visit the Justice for Liberty website.

According to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Thomas Moorer, “In attacking the USS Liberty, Israel committed acts of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States…. Those men were then betrayed and left to die by our own government.”

The survivors are still awaiting justice.The Liberty crew is one of the most decorated in U.S. Naval history. Yet, for decades this attack has been covered up and misrepresented.

Justice For Liberty via If Americans Knew

Hezbollah: Flying drones to Karish gas field conveyed message to Israel

Ms. Cat

Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says its recent flying of three unarmed drones toward the Karish gas field was aimed to warn Israel not to conduct any extraction operation prior to resolving a long-standing maritime border dispute between Beirut and the regime in Tel Aviv.

Hezbollah: Flying drones to Karish gas field conveyed message to Israel

Related:

Israel’s Karish Offshore Gas Field: Facts and Figures:

Meanwhile, Israel, Egypt, and the European Union are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on increasing gas exports, though it is difficult to see what immediate practical effect this will have. Israel’s Ministry of Energy will also open another round of bidding for licenses to explore in its EEZ. The degree of interest shown in this round will indicate how international energy companies currently regard the attractiveness of Israeli prospects.