US soldier dies after being injured at Gaza Pier project

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Army soldier who was injured in May while working on the American-built pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza has died.

Sergeant Quandarius Stanley, 23, was a motor carrier and was seriously injured when high winds and heavy seas damaged the pier, stranding four army ships. Two other soldiers were also injured, but later returned to duty.

U.S. military officials have not provided details on how exactly Stanley was injured, but have noted that it was not in combat. He died last Thursday and was assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

“Sgt. Quandarius Stanley was an instrumental and respected frontline leader in the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary (TBX), especially during the mission to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. We will continue to support his family during this difficult time,” said Col. John “Eddie” Gray, brigade commander. “Our entire unit mourns along with his family.”

Capt. Shkeila Milford-Glover, spokesperson for the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, said Stanley had recently retired and was being treated at a long-term care medical center.

The gigantic pier project was hampered by unexpected bad weather and security concerns, as well as ongoing security problems involving Israeli forces, which prompted aid agencies to halt distribution of supplies for fear of being injured or killed.

The Ministry of Defense formally pulled the pier off the Gaza coast on June 28 and ended the mission in mid-July to bring aid to the area under siege by the war between Israel and Hamas.

All told, the military moved nearly 20 million pounds of aid to the Gaza coast, which officials said was the “largest volume of humanitarian aid” ever delivered to the Middle East.

But aid agencies struggled to move the landed food to areas further afield in Gaza where it was needed most as humanitarian convoys came under attack.