Another U.S. military asset left for Gaza on Thursday to help fulfill President Joe Biden’s promise to build a pier linking the war-torn territory to the rest of the world.
The MV Roy P. Benavidez left its berth in Newport News, Va., loaded with heavy equipment and materials needed for the U.S. Army-led project.
About 500 of U.S. soldiers will participate in the mission to aid Gaza. All together, Pentagon officials have said about 1,000 U.S. troops will be involved.
The ship will deliver the components to the Army’s 7th Transportation Brigade, which will construct the pier in the Mediterranean Sea.
UPI reports Army officials call this capability Joint Logistics-Over-the-Shore (JLOTS). Lt. Gen. John Sullivan, deputy commander, U.S. Transportation Command said in a statement:
JLOTS is a critical capability that allows ship-to-shore cargo distribution in the absence of a usable pier.
It can be used to augment an established port or to create a pier where one is needed and allows us to support areas where large populations are isolated from food, water and other forms of humanitarian aid.
The Benavidez is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s Ready Reserve Fleet.
It will support four Army vessels with the 7th Transportation Brigade, which departed the U.S. in support of the mission earlier this month, as Breitbart News reported.
Pentagon press secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has said the pier will be fully operational within 60 days of when Biden ordered the project during his State of the Union address.
The structure is expected to be as much as 1,800 feet long, with two lanes, and the Pentagon has said it could accommodate the delivery of more than two million meals a day for Gaza residents.
Officials have not said who will be unloading the containers and taking the aid ashore before distribution, with Hamas terrorists previously accused of stealing aid for themselves while leaving civilians starving, as Breitbart News reported.
Before becoming a part of the Ready Reserve Fleet, the MV Roy P. Benavidez was a Bob Hope-class roll-on, roll-off cargo ship used by the U.S. Navy.
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