United States to build pier to allow aid into Gaza by sea

The United States on Thursday announced plans for a large-scale, amphibious military operation in the Mediterranean Sea that would ferry food and other aid to desperate civilians in the enclave.

The White House called it an “emergency mission” that would allow hundreds of truckloads of additional aid to be delivered to Gaza via the temporary port, which would be attached to some kind of temporary causeway.

It could take more than 30 to 60 days to implement, and involve hundreds or thousands of U.S. troops on ships just off-shore, in keeping with President Joe Biden’s mandate that no American soldiers be on the ground inside Gaza as the conflict rages. The port would be constructed in cooperation with other countries in the region.

Aid groups and other experts have highlighted that the airdrops are insufficient to meet the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Amidst continued Israeli airstrikes, the number of Palestinians killed during the conflict has reportedly surpassed 30,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Many bodies are believed to be trapped underneath the rubble, to have been buried quickly in side streets, or to be in areas that are currently unsafe to reach. In addition to the staggering death toll, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), estimates that at least 1.9 million Palestinians – 85 percent of the population – have been forcibly displaced in the conflict.

The United Nations has warned that more than 570,000 Gazans are facing “catastrophic levels of deprivation and starvation” and that northern Gaza is a particular concern.

South Africa on Wednesday asked the International Court of Justice in The Hague to issue emergency orders for Israel to stop what it called the “genocidal starvation” of the Palestinian people, part of a case that South Africa filed in December accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has categorically denied the charge.

Under the latest plan, aid donated by the United Arab Emirates would be sent to Cyprus, where it would eventually be inspected, then transported by ship to the coast of Gaza.

The new facility could provide another way to get truckloads of aid into the region. But it would not solve a central problem of distributing aid inside Gaza while intense fighting and Israeli bombing continues in the south, and as lawlessness in the north has grown so bad that aid groups suspended operations there.

Until now, the United States has pressured Israel to allow more aid into Gaza through two border crossings and recently joined France and Jordan in airdropping aid from planes, including 38,000 meals on Thursday.

International mediators have sought to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas that would see the release of some hostages held in Gaza and Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, but weeks of indirect negotiations appear to have stalled. Hamas wants Israel to commit to a permanent cease-fire during or after hostage releases, a demand that Israel has rejected.

It is unclear where the Biden administration intends to build its new floating port or pier off Gaza, though the Army Corps of Engineers has long experience in the rapid construction of floating facilities to accommodate U.S. military operations. Based on the description provided by White House and military officials, this one would be built from U.S. ships, and then moved close to shore.