The military’s cost estimate to build a pier off Gaza has nearly doubled from previous estimates.
According to a new Reuters report, taxpayers will fork over approximately $320 million for the pier that will facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“The cost has not just risen. It has exploded,” Senator Roger Wicker, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Reuters. “This dangerous effort with marginal benefit will now cost the American taxpayers at least $320 million to operate the pier for only 90 days.”
Lawmakers have also expressed concern that the pier, which has already been targeted, will turn U.S. service members into sitting ducks.
“For every day this mission continues, the price tag goes up and so does the level of risk for the 1,000 deployed troops within range of Hamas’ rockets,” Wicker said.