JUST IN: Pentagon Holds Press Briefing After Announcing End Of Gaza Aid Pier Operations
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh held a press briefing.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Okay. Hello, good afternoon. All right, just a few things here at the top and then happy to jump in
00:07and take your questions. Yesterday, the Secretary of the Navy exonerated 258 black sailors who were
00:14unjustly court-martialed in the wake of the devastating explosion at the Port of Chicago
00:19Naval Magazine in California, which killed 320 sailors on July 17, 1944. After a thorough review
00:28of the case and related materials, the General Counsel of the Navy concluded that there were
00:32significant legal errors during the court's martial and that the defendants were improperly
00:38tried together despite conflicting interests and denied a meaningful right to counsel.
00:43Secretary Austin applauded the Navy's legal review and decision to ensure our service members,
00:49our military families, and our civilian employees are treated with fairness and dignity,
00:54especially within our military justice systems.
00:57Switching gears, as you know, U.S. Central Command has been executing operations to
01:02surge humanitarian aid into Gaza through air, land, and sea. Yesterday, the Department of
01:08Defense announced that its temporary pier, or the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore Capability
01:14that has been used to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza through a maritime corridor,
01:18has concluded its operations. With collaboration from 12 nations, international partners,
01:24USAID, and their families, and our civilian and military justice systems.
01:30Switching gears, as you know, U.S. Central Command has been executing operations to surge
01:35humanitarian aid into Gaza through air, land, and sea. Yesterday, the Department of Defense
01:41announced that its temporary pier, or the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore Capability
01:47that has been used to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza through a maritime corridor,
01:51has concluded its operations. With collaboration from 12 nations, international partners, USAID,
01:58and the United Nations, the temporary pier successfully delivered nearly 20 million pounds
02:04of aid, which is the highest volume of humanitarian assistance the U.S. military has ever delivered
02:09into the Middle East. The temporary pier achieved its goal of providing an additive means of
02:15delivering high volumes of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. In the coming days, CENTCOM
02:21will work with USAID to deliver the remaining aid commodities currently afloat to the Port of
02:26Ashdod in Israel for onward distribution to Gaza, and will provide coordination and liaison support
02:33for humanitarian aid deliveries at the request of USAID when appropriate. And finally, the Chairman
02:40of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown, Jr., met today with the Japanese State Minister
02:45of Defense, Japan Chief of Staff, and the Chairman of the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff
02:51in Tokyo. The military leaders discussed progress on the trilateral defense relationship,
02:57exchange assessments on the regional security situation, stressed the importance of enhancing
03:02close trilateral coordination in response to the provocation posed by the DPRK,
03:07and reaffirmed their positions regarding the escalatory, dangerous, and aggressive behavior
03:13by the People's Republic of China throughout the region. The tri-Chad leaders underscored
03:18that U.S.-Japan ROK security cooperation is critical not only to the security and prosperity
03:24of the Indo-Pacific region, but also to their shared global interest to ensure peace and stability in
03:30the Korean Peninsula, the Indo-Pacific, and beyond. And with that, I'd be happy to take
03:35your questions. Lita. Hi. Thanks, Sabrina. Can you just clarify a couple of things on the pier?
03:42The Army boats were used all along to transfer the aid from the floating dock to the Trident pier.
03:51Will they be used to take aid from the dock, if there's any left there, to Ashdod at all,
03:59do you know? And just a couple of points on that. Sure. Sorry, just for clarification,
04:04which dock are you referring to? The pier itself? The aid came from Cyprus to the big floating
04:14dock that was several miles offshore. The Army boats were used to take the aid from there
04:19to the Trident pier. Oh, I see what you're saying.
04:22Are they going to be used to take the aid from the floating dock to Ashdod?
04:30I believe, from my understanding, it's the aid that's on our ships right now will just be
04:34offloaded in Ashdod and then driven by contracted drivers or drivers that the WFP have identified
04:41into Israel. I'm not aware that those Army boats will have a role in that because the aid is
04:45already on the ships that would then pull into Ashdod and have it be directly transloaded.
04:50And are these largely the DOT and commercial ships, or are these also Navy ships?
04:57It's my understanding that these are U.S. military ships that have the aid.
05:01And as you heard Vice Admiral Cooper yesterday say, that we are committed to making sure that
05:07the aid that has been transloaded onto our ships is transloaded off of our ships into Ashdod for
05:13further distribution into Gaza. So are these ships that are in Cyprus,
05:17or are these ships that are at the pier? I believe these are ships that are making
05:20its way or already at the pier. Look, this is ongoing, moving. I believe also there's,
05:27you know, a few million pounds of aid that are on each of our vessels that need to be transloaded
05:33off. So it's going to take some time. We're committed to doing that. But how we do that,
05:38for more specifics, you know, I'd direct you to CENTCOM just for more specifics if you want,
05:42like, specific ships. But we're just committed to making sure that that aid gets to Gaza.
05:47OK. And is that all in addition to the five million pounds of aid that Admiral Cooper
05:54yesterday said was still in Cyprus? I believe what Admiral Cooper was
05:57referring to is there five million pounds of aid total between Cyprus and on the ships
06:01that will get moved through the Ashdod corridor down into Gaza. So it's a total figure.
06:07Last question. Will the military be involved at all in what is the future plan now to deliver
06:15aid from Cyprus directly to the Ashdod pier and then from the pier into Gaza? Will the military
06:23have a role in that other than the coordination cell? Our role will mainly shift to an advisory
06:29role. In the immediate future, we're going to maintain some coordination elements that have
06:38been in place, such as the coordination cell that you know is in Cyprus and in Israel. We want to
06:42make sure that aid is going to continue to flow into Gaza. But this new route that aid flows
06:48through Ashdod will ultimately be managed by USAID and other humanitarian organizations. So I'd
06:54include the World Food Program in that as well. OK. So then the coordination cell participation?
07:00Right now, the coordination cell is still stood up and will remain in place for a short time in
07:06the immediate. But we are working to ensure that all the aid gets into Gaza. And in order to do
07:14that from what's on our ships and what's still at Cyprus, that coordination cell is still stood up.
07:21Yes.
07:21Thank you. So I have a couple on Ukraine, then one on the Gaza Pier problem. So
07:26we heard Republican Vice President, Mr. Vance, has repeatedly argued against military aid to Ukraine.
07:33And he said that the U.S., I quote, lacks the capacity to manufacture the amount of weapons
07:37Ukraine needs to win the war, in particular, one in 55-millimeter shells and Patriot interceptors.
07:44What can you say to that?
07:46So as you can appreciate, not going to comment on political speeches or the campaign. But I think
07:54what you've seen from this department and from this administration is a commitment to Ukraine
07:58for as long as it takes. And that's what we're focused on. I think it's important to remember,
08:04too, that under this administration, we've invigorated our defense industrial base.
08:09And we are creating jobs right here at home when it comes to manufacturing 155-millimeter rounds
08:14and other capabilities that are not only enhancing our defense industrial base,
08:18but helping the Ukrainians. I also would push back on the notion that Ukraine can't win this war.
08:25We have seen them be incredibly successful on the battlefield.
08:28They continue to dig in and push the Russians back.
08:34This was never going to be over in a day. This is going to take time.
08:38And it has taken time. And it's going to continue to take time.
08:41And the support that Ukraine has garnered from all around the world, I think,
08:49is a true testament to the United States' also commitment to them.
08:55Appreciate the question, but I can only really speak to what the department is doing and what
08:59we're committed to doing. All right. Can you... Do you have a breakdown of
09:03how much funding has been allocated from this latest supplemental
09:07for military aid packages to Ukraine and how much is still left?
09:11I don't have a breakdown from allocations of different PDA packages from the supplemental
09:18when it was last authorized. We've put out a press release every time we've authorized
09:24a drawdown package or a USAI. So I just encourage you to look back on what we have announced.
09:28I just don't have that breakdown by package in front of me.
09:32The latest on the Gaza pier. So what ultimately led to the decision to dismantle the pier before
09:37all aid from Cyprus arrived in Gaza? And is there a final cost for the Gaza pier?
09:42Because we heard Vice Admiral Cooper said it came in under cost.
09:48Yeah. So I'll take the cost first and then can address your other question.
09:51In terms of the cost, we're still doing our assessments. So we'll have more to share with you
09:58in hopefully the following days and weeks. We do expect it to come a little under budget,
10:04but we'll keep you updated. I just don't have a final number on that.
10:07In terms of why, well, I mean, again, as we've always said from the beginning,
10:11we always said this was going to be a temporary measure that was put into place.
10:16We are certainly aware and as you have reported on some of the weather conditions and environmental
10:24factors that have faced the pier. We know that sea states were going to get worse as the summer
10:29progressed. That is something that was always known. But I think what's important to remember
10:35is that all the aid that was in Cyprus or has gone to Cyprus has either been transloaded off
10:43of that temporary pier or will be moved into Ashdod. So we've moved out almost every single
10:47piece of aid that has come in through Cyprus. So I think that's very important to remember.
10:52I also think that it's important to remember that this pier delivered the highest volume
10:57of humanitarian assistance the U.S. military has ever delivered to the Middle East. So I know there
11:03have been criticisms and I know from some people here in this room, and I know that there have been
11:10some setbacks when it has come to the pier. But at the end of the day,
11:14we delivered nearly 20 million pounds of aid. And I think that is a real testament to the
11:21commitment of our personnel at CENTCOM and the commitment to also ensuring that other avenues
11:28opened up, such as the Ashdod Corridor. Natasha. Thanks, Sabrina. So just one clarifying question.
11:34So yesterday, Admiral Cooper, he told reporters that at least for the near term, quote,
11:38we expect to use the same vessels that have been transporting aid from Cyprus to the pier,
11:43now using those same vessels transporting aid from Cyprus to Ashdod. But you said a few minutes ago,
11:49I think that it would be mostly an advisory role. So which is it? Is it advisory role or is it
11:53actually the military transporting this aid, continuing to transport the aid from Cyprus
11:56to Ashdod now? So once we complete the transfer of aid of the, like, I think Admiral Cooper
12:02mentioned about 5 million pounds of aid still needs to be loaded off of our ships. That's when
12:09our role will transition into more of an advisory role. But we have to complete that transfer of
12:14aid. So it's not like the aid is going to sit on our ships and all of a sudden, it's not going to
12:19move off or go anywhere. We're going to help, of course, with offloading it into Ashdod.
12:24And then once that aid moves off into Ashdod and moves into Gaza, this is going to be a mission
12:31that, you know, transitions into a next phase, which will be managed by USAID and other partners.
12:37Liz.
12:37Thanks. Earlier this week, there was some reporting that Al-Assad Air Base in Iraq
12:42was targeted by some Iranian proxy drones. Do you have any details of what happened?
12:48How many were shot down?
12:50Yeah, thanks, Liz, for the question. So that's correct. On July 16th, two one-way attack UAS
12:56systems attacked U.S. and coalition forces at Al-Assad Air Base in Iraq. One system was
13:03successfully destroyed and one impacted the base, but it caused minimal damage. Yeah, Konstantin.
13:09Thanks. So the National Guard Bureau chief, General Hoganson, is retiring in two weeks,
13:14I believe. A new replacement for him has not been announced. Has the Pentagon sent
13:20a recommendation or a name to the White House?
13:23Yeah, so as you know, all nominations and announcements will come from the White House.
13:27I don't have anything to read out today and certainly wouldn't get into conversations
13:31that we're having with the White House. But when we have that announcement ready to be made,
13:35it will be public.
13:37I mean, it looks like we're setting up a situation where there's basically not going
13:41to be a transition period between Hoganson and whoever replaces him. Is there any concern from
13:47the Pentagon that there's not a replacement ready to go?
13:50Again, I, no, there is not. Yes, Charlie.
13:55Sabrina, forgive me this question. Is there any reaction from Defense Secretary Austin
14:00after President Biden appeared to blank his name in a recent interview?
14:05I've seen that clip and I will say that I would urge you to look at the full context
14:11of the clip as he was answering a question, I believe, more about the administration more
14:16broadly, but would refer you to the White House for more of his comments.
14:21The secretary has absolute confidence in the president. He was just with the president for
14:28at least two days at the NATO summit, spent many, many hours with him in bilateral meetings,
14:33was there for his press conference. He has absolute confidence in the president.
14:37But no reaction from the specific interview?
14:40No reaction from the specific interview,
14:41other than that he has absolute confidence in the president.
14:45Yeah. Yes.
14:46Thank you, Sabrina. Recently UNRWA has been announced that five of their schools in Gaza
14:51has been targeted by the Israeli military in the last 10 days, and these schools were using as
14:58refugee camps. So these strikes came despite of calls from the secretary Austin to his Israeli
15:06counterpart to take all necessary steps to minimize civilian harm. Do you believe that
15:12the Israeli take this warning seriously? And what do you say about that?
15:16So I haven't seen, and I apologize, I haven't seen the exact reports that you're referencing.
15:22We do believe that the Israelis do take our concerns seriously.
15:27Civilian casualties and the need to reduce civilian casualties is a topic of conversation
15:33on almost every single call that the secretary has done with Minister Gallant. And that continues not
15:38just at his level, but at other levels throughout this building and the interagency. So it's
15:44something that we take very seriously. We think our concerns are being heard. We have seen behaviors
15:49change. There is absolutely the need, and there must be more done. But I just can't address those
15:58specific reports, unfortunately. I just haven't seen them. Yeah. Yeah, Noah.
16:02I'm wondering if you have any reaction to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday
16:07saying that they were shutting down talks with the U.S. on arms control in response to objections
16:12over weapon sales to Taiwan. Have you seen that statement? And do you have any thoughts on the
16:18future of arms control going forward? Yeah, I'm just not going to respond to
16:22the statement. But I can tell you that we have a commitment to the one China policy.
16:28You've seen the secretary continue to raise concerns about the PRC's behavior within the
16:34region. And as I read out at the top, the chairman was just there in the region, not only deepening
16:40ties there, but also raising concerns about some of the behavior and activity that we're seeing.
16:45So I'll just leave it at that. There was also some confusion on when they
16:50were actually paused, whether it took place earlier in the summer after New President Lai's
16:54speech in Taiwan, or whether it actually was cut yesterday or this week. Do you have any sense on
16:59that? Yeah, I'm just not going to be able to provide more on that. But thank you. Yes.
17:03Thanks. I wanted to ask if you could give us an update, if possible, on the AUKUS agreement.
17:07Are there any next steps? I thought I heard plans to make an announcement this fall.
17:14I don't know if that was under pillar two or just other steps in the AUKUS agreement.
17:18I don't have any announcements today. But certainly when it comes to AUKUS,
17:21and I know that's something that has been of interest, we always, of course,
17:25make those and read those out. But I just don't have anything for you today.
17:27Thank you. Yeah, of course. Yes.
17:30Thank you, Sabrin. With the attack on al-Assad's airbase, do you know specifically which group
17:35launched the attack? No, I don't. I don't have specifics to name or I don't have a specific
17:40group. We know that these are IRGC-backed militias that have launched these attacks on
17:46U.S. forces in the past. Most likely the not. It is, you know, one of those affiliate groups,
17:54but I can't give you specifics other than that. One more. From a military perspective,
17:58how do you look at the attempts by Turkey and Syria to normalize their relations? Does it come
18:05up with any U.S. policy change in case these two states reach a point that normalize their ties?
18:12Yeah, I just don't have anything for you on that. You know, we have our own relationship with
18:17Turkey. We'll continue to engage our counterparts there, but I just don't have more for you on that
18:21one. Liz. Thanks. Just to follow up on that al-Assad attack, was this the first attack on a
18:26U.S. military base in the Middle East since February? Yes, that's correct. And is there any
18:32sense that these attacks from these proxy groups are going to resume or do you think this was a
18:36one-off? Can't predict the future. As you know, you know, when we also speculate on that and can't
18:44get into intelligence matters, but we certainly don't want to see these attacks resume on our
18:48forces. And we've made that clear both, you know, publicly and privately. I just, I can't speculate
18:56on the future of, you know, we're always going to take measures to protect our forces. And I'll
19:01just leave it at that. Okay. Yes, Jared, and then I'll hop over. Real quick follow up on the al-Assad
19:07attack. Has the United States responded to this in any way or are there plans to do so?
19:11Well, we shot down one of the UAS systems. So I think that'd be a response. I'm not going to get
19:18ahead of any military decisions or operations. Moshe. Have there been any attacks in Syria as well?
19:26There was not an attack. One of our, the U.S. and coalition forces did destroy one uncrewed aerial
19:36system near Green Village, but we don't have an assessment of what the intended target was.
19:41So I wouldn't say that, I wouldn't characterize that as an attack, but they did destroy it
19:45out of an abundance of caution. An incident did happen in Syria?
19:49Yes. Yes, an incident did happen in Syria. They did, our forces did shoot down one UAS system,
19:57but again, it's unclear what the intended target was. And there was no injuries,
20:01no damaged infrastructure resulting from this. Okay, Matt, and then I'll go into the back.
20:06Just staying on that topic, can you say anything about Iran's possible role in that attack? We
20:10talked about these Iran-backed groups. Is it just broadly Iran-backed or do you think that any
20:15more direct hand in this particular attack? I don't have any more information. I think we can
20:21assess that these are Iranian-backed groups that launched this attack. We've seen this behavior
20:27before. We certainly don't want to see an escalation on our forces in the region. And so
20:33we're going to, of course, take the proper measures that we need to ensure their safety and security,
20:38but I don't have more for you other than that. Thanks.
20:41Okay, Lita, and then one more in the back. Just to clarify, wasn't there an attack on
20:45a U.S. base in Syria in April? I believe we did shoot down
20:52something in April, but I don't know that the intended target was the base.
20:56Okay, because I thought that this was the first attack since April. You're saying it's the first
21:01since? I'm tracking it since February. Yes. Yeah. Yes, one more.
21:06Thank you. Regarding to the attacks on the Assad base, have you communicate with the Iraqi
21:12government? And do you believe that they are doing enough to stop these kinds of attacks? And did you
21:16get any signs, like before these attacks happened, from the Iraqi government of the officials there?
21:23We have a great partnership with the Iraqi government. I'm not going to get into private
21:26conversations, as we never do from the podium. But we believe that we're taking the proper
21:32measures to ensure security and safety of our forces. We'll continue to engage our Iraqi
21:37partners on the ground. But I don't have more for you. All right. Okay. Thanks, everyone.