PRESIDENT Joe Biden is set to announce that the US military will be constructing a port off the coast of Gaza.
Senior administration officials have said that the port will enable Gazans to receive deeply-needed humanitarian assistance.
3
The officials alleged that Biden will use his State of the Union speech
to announce the US military will “undertake an emergency mission to establish a port in Gaza, working with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners.”
They added that the operation will not require any American troops to be on the ground.
Instead, they said, the port is just intended to allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential aid.
One official said that the temporary port would increase the amount of aid into the war-torn region by “hundreds of additional truckloads” on a daily basis.
In recent weeks the US has been finding ways around their ally in the Middle East, and has been sending aid via airdrops.
Another official said that they can’t wait on the Israelis to confirm a security arrangement.
The official said: “We’re not waiting on the Israelis.
“This is a moment for American leadership, and we are building a coalition of countries to address this urgent need.”
The official added that the UN and humanitarian organisations would also play a role – as they “understand the distribution of assistance within Gaza”.
The first shipment of supplies is allegedly due to arrive from the Larnaca port in Cyprus – about 230 miles from the Gaza strip.
Four other European, Middle Eastern and US officials said that a lot of the port project still needs to be ironed out.
These officials revealed that even after a coordinated plan is in place, it would take anywhere from 45 to 60 days to get regular aid shipped in.
A third US official said: “The goal here is to find a way to bring synergy to every one initiative.
“We will need something like that so that we can actually build connective tissue between our planners, our development professionals, etc. to work out some of the details.”
Humanitarian aid organisations have recently revealed that delivering supplies has become near impossible within Gaza.
They blamed this on the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military.
A new report from the humanitarian group Refugees International claimed that Israel has been “obstructing and undermining the humanitarian response” in the Gaza strip.
The report said: “Our research makes clear that conditions inside of Gaza are apocalyptic.
“After five months of war, Palestinians are struggling to find adequate food, water, shelter, and basic medicine.
“Famine-level hunger is already widespread and worsening.”
3
