The US Central Command or CENTCOM announced today the completion of the mission of the artificial jetty on the coast of Gaza, marking the conclusion of a troubled effort to offload large quantities of humanitarian aid intended for the civilian population of the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

After it was installed two months ago by the US military, floating infrastructure has been more busy because of its problems, in stark contrast to the official rhetoric in Washington, where it was presented as a source of hope for the delivery of humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of starving Gazans.

Although it cost approx 230 million dollars, the artificial harbor proved extremely vulnerable to bad weather and was detached from the shore several times after it was initially installed in mid-May. The pier was damaged and had to be repeatedly towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repairs.

The US government, Israel’s main ally, took the decision to build this artificial port in the Gaza Strip because of the severe restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on land deliveries of humanitarian aid to the war-torn Palestinian enclave.