Tuberville joins a letter asking questions about the U.S. armed forces building the Gaza pier

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) joined his colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden demanding answers on how his administration intends to proceed with constructing a temporary pier in Gaza.

The letter was also cosigned by U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), and Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri).

"We have strong reservations about your directing the United States military to establish a temporary pier on the Gaza Coast," the Senators wrote. "While we acknowledge that this decision was taken with the consent of the Israeli government, we are concerned that the mission entails a significant risk to U.S. personnel. We are also concerned that this approach fails to address the main causes of the humanitarian crisis."

"First, this deployment ignores the most basic cause of Gaza's humanitarian crisis: the fact that Hamas ignited the current war on October 7 by murdering 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans, and taking another 240 hostages, including 12 Americans," the Senators continued. "The conditions for ending the war and the ensuing humanitarian challenges are the same today as they were on October 7: Hamas' surrender and the return of the approximately 140 remaining hostages, including six Americans."

The Senators are concerned that the U.S. armed forces assigned to this pier construction project could be subject to terrorist attacks.

"This decision appears to ignore force protection issues entirely against an enemy that tries to kill Americans every day," the Senators wrote. "We are gravely concerned that the Department of Defense has given too little consideration to the likelihood that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other U.S.-designated terrorist organizations operating in Gaza would attempt to attack the U.S. personnel that will be deployed to this mission. Since October 7, Iran-backed proxies, of which Hamas and PIJ are two, have attacked U.S. forces in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and off the coast of Yemen. Hamas is blatantly indifferent to the humanitarian crisis that its October 7 massacre has wrought, and it is unlikely to be deterred by the humanitarian nature of the U.S. mission to establish a pier off the coast of Gaza."

Armed gangs are attacking aid convoys crossing into the Gaza strip.

The Senators also sent a list of questions to the Department of Defense asking questions about the details of the missions and what the rules of engagement are if the forces are attacked.

Following the terror attacks, Sen. Tuberville joined legislation to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel.

Sen. Tuberville has been adamant that aid for Israel be separated from Ukraine aid.

Senator Tuberville sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging that any supplemental spending package brought to the Senate floor include an "immediate and permanent prohibition" on U.S. contributions to the United States National Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which many regard to be antisemitic and which has been suspected of providing material support to Hamas.

Tommy Tuberville was elected to the Senate in 2020. He represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, and HELP Committees.

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