The American president announced the construction of a temporary port on the coast of Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
In his State of the Union address to Congress, Joe Biden confirmed Thursday evening his order for the US military to build a temporary port in Gaza to deliver more humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel.
The president made it clear that the construction of this pier will not require any ground deployment of American troops.
Joe Biden, widely criticized in Democratic ranks for his unconditional support for Israel, sent this message of firmness to his ally. “Israel must do its part. Israel must allow more aid into Gaza, make sure that aid workers are not caught in the crossfire. They announce that they will have passage into northern Gaza. To the leaders of ‘Israel, I say “Humanitarian aid cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives must be a priority. “
While the humanitarian situation in Gaza is reaching a breaking point and the risk of famine is feared**, the announced construction of a temporary port is not for tomorrow.** We will have to wait several weeks before its completion. put in function. The port will allow the arrival in the Gaza Strip of the equivalent of the capacity “hundreds of trucks of additional aid every day” which will deliver food, water, medicine and temporary shelter.
The aid in question will leave from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus.
Israel has been informed of this initiative and the United States must work with them on security issues.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, also did not rule out deployment of a hospital ship.
Currently, very limited ground aid routes are supplemented by airdrops from several countries in the region, Europe and the United States. But these are considered by humanitarian institutions as a moral support.
Israel is under pressure to allow more daily trucks and open more crossings. The Jewish state, in turn, says the problem is not the cross-border transport of aid, but the distribution of that aid in Gaza. Avi Hyman, Israeli government spokesperson, on Thursday accused Hamas fighters of effectively stealing international aid from compatriots in Gaza.
Regarding the distribution and application of aid, Spain went a bit against the grain this Thursday, announcing financial support for UNRWA, the UN agency for aid to the Palestinians. Madrid will contribute up to 20 million euros to the organization whose financial situation has deteriorated following scandals and accusations implicating members of the agency in the October 7 massacre against Israel.