WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Monday said US military forces involved in a humanitarian aid pier operation off the coast of Gaza played no role in an Israeli hostage rescue operation in the Palestinian enclave on Saturday.
The Israeli operation rescued four hostages and left more than 270 Palestinians dead according to the local health ministry. The raid also led to claims on social media that the Israeli military used the US-built humanitarian pier as a staging ground.
“The pier, the equipment, the personnel all supporting that humanitarian effort had nothing to do with the IDF rescue operation,” Pentagon press secretary US Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters.
Why it matters: Allegations that the US or Israeli military used the aid pier operation as cover to launch military action in Gaza could put humanitarian workers in danger.
The head of the UN’s World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, said on Monday that distribution of humanitarian aid delivered via the pier into Gaza had halted after two WFP warehouses came under rocket fire on Sunday.
The WFP’s regional office said it was “temporarily pausing” aid operations near the floating pier pending a security assessment for its staff and partners.
A Hamas statement on Telegram over the weekend alleged US Navy SEALs led the Israeli operation. US officials thoroughly denied that, pointing to President Joe Biden’s policy of not placing any American troops on the ground in Gaza.
“There is a lot of misinformation and disinformation about what US forces are not doing,” Ryder told reporters Monday. “This pier is there for one reason only. And that is to help deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.”
Ryder and other US defense officials said they believed the Israeli operation did not involve any aid trucks, despite reports claiming such.
Yes, but: An Israeli military helicopter landed south of the pier facility along the beach following the hostage rescue operation. US officials told CBS over the weekend that the helicopter was not within the pier’s security cordon.
Ryder acknowledged that Israeli personnel involved in the hostage raid had operated “near” the pier but said any proximity was “incidental,” without providing specifics. US warships on standby in the eastern Mediterranean also played no role in the Israeli operation, he said.
The US provided intelligence to support the Israeli raid, multiple outlets reported. US MQ-9 unmanned drones continue to operate over Gaza, gathering data to support hostage rescue efforts, officials confirmed on Monday.
Ryder declined to comment on US intelligence support. He would not say whether the Pentagon was notified by the Israelis in advance of the operation, but said he did not believe disinformation surrounding the raid put US troops at greater risk.
Pier complications: In addition to the WFP’s decision to pause onshore distribution, aid delivery to the pier was also halted due to sea swells on Sunday and Monday, Ryder told reporters.
The new delay came just after humanitarian aid transited the pier for just one day following the US military’s successful repair and reinstallation of the dock system on Gaza’s shore last week.
The pier was reinstalled on June 7 after it broke apart and took significant damage in late May due to stormy seas, halting seaborne aid deliveries shipped from Cyprus.
“All indications are that that will commence again tomorrow,” Ryder said on Monday.
On Sunday, WFP director McCain told CBS that the southern Gaza Strip was “on the edge” of famine amid the Israeli military’s operation in Rafah. McCain previously said northern Gaza was in “full-blown famine” in early May.
