The American artificial jetty that in theory would have allowed large quantities of humanitarian aid to land in the besieged Gaza Strip but was undermined by a series of problems after it was installed will soon be permanently withdrawn, US officials announced Thursday.

Since it was installed two months ago by the US military, the floating infrastructure has drawn more attention for its problems, in stark contrast to the official rhetoric in Washington, where it was presented as a cause for hope that aid would reach the countless thousands of Gazans under threat. to starve.

“I expect that in a relatively short period of time we will terminate operations associated with this pier,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Washington.

“The pier will soon be decommissioned,” confirmed Pat Ryder, the US Pentagon spokesman, promising clarification on the date and final process in the coming days.

At a cost of $230 million, this man-made harbor proved particularly vulnerable to swells and was pulled from the shore several times after it was originally installed in mid-May.

The damaged jetty had to be repeatedly towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repairs.

Once again, the day before Wednesday, American military personnel tried to “re-attach the temporary jetty to a beach in Gaza, so that humanitarian operations can resume. But due to technical and weather problems,” they didn’t make it, said Pat Ryder.

The US government, Israel’s main international ally, decided to install this artificial port because of Israel’s very strict restrictions on humanitarian aid deliveries by land routes to the besieged and devastated Palestinian enclave after nine months of war.