A U.S. Army soldier who was injured in May while working on the pier built by the United States to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza has died.
Sergeant Quandarius Stanley, 23, was a road transport operator and was seriously injured when high winds and rough seas damaged the jetty, causing four army ships to run aground. Two other soldiers were also injured but later returned to duty.
U.S. military officials did not provide details on exactly how Stanley was injured, but noted that he was not in combat. He died last Thursday and had been assigned to the 7th Expeditionary Transportation Brigade at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.
“Sgt. Quandarius Stanley has been an instrumental and well-respected frontline leader within the 7th Transportation Expeditionary Brigade (TBX), particularly during the mission to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. We will continue to support his family during this difficult time. time,” said Colonel John “Eddie” Gray, brigade commander. “Our entire unit mourns alongside his family.”
Capt. Shkeila Milford-Glover, a spokeswoman for the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, said Stanley had recently retired and was receiving treatment at a long-term care medical center.
The massive pier project has been hampered by unexpected bad weather and security concerns, as well as ongoing security concerns involving Israeli forces that have prompted humanitarian agencies to halt distribution of supplies for fear of harm or killed.
The Defense Ministry officially removed the pier from the coast of Gaza on June 28 and declared an end in mid-July to the mission to deliver aid to the territory besieged by the war between Israel and Hamas.
The military transferred nearly 20 million pounds of aid to the Gaza coast, in what officials called the “largest volume of humanitarian aid” ever delivered to the Middle East.
But aid agencies struggled to move landed food to areas further afield in Gaza, where it was most needed, as aid convoys came under attack.
