Biden To Order Us Military To Construct Port In Gaza To Increase Aid Flow

During his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden will order the U.S. military to establish a temporary port in Gaza so more humanitarian aid can get to Palestinians in need, three senior administration officials said Thursday.

The U.S. military has “unique capabilities” that allow it to construct a port or causeway without having to send forces to Gaza’s shores, said one of the officials. “We're not planning for this to be an operation that would require U.S. boots on the ground,” said a second one. All were granted anonymity to preview the president’s announcement.

The move will help ships dock on the enclave’s coast to deliver food, water, medicine and other assistance. The Biden administration is working with governments and commercial partners to establish a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza that will supplement aid already being delivered via airdrops and land routes.

The U.S. is resorting to this military mission because Israel isn’t letting in enough aid to alleviate the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israel-Hamas war plaguing 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza.

Planning for the maritime corridor still faces many execution challenges, namely how to offload, secure and distribute the aid.

Four other U.S., European and Middle Eastern officials said many elements remain up for discussion. Smaller packages will soon come in by sea. But once a coordinated plan is in place, it would take 45 to 60 days before there’s a regular cadence of large assistance packages shipping across the Mediterranean.

The aid will initially flow through the Larnaca port in Cyprus, located about 230 miles from Gaza. It’s already fitted with high-tech screening equipment that allows Israeli officials stationed in Cyprus to check what’s inside the deliveries.

Gaza has no working port, which is why Biden has ordered the U.S. military to help establish the temporary pier. It’s unclear what role other partners will play in its creation.

The aid needs to be protected once it's ashore, and crowds clamoring for assistance have to be managed. Israel, though, has not yet agreed to a security and crowd-control mission. Negotiations are ongoing.

Arguably the hardest part is dispersing the aid throughout the whole of Gaza. The multinational coalition will rely on the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and other groups to ensure the assistance gets to the right places.

Gaza remains an active war zone and much of the enclave poses security risks to aid workers, which will complicate any efforts to get food, water, medicine and other assistance to those in need.

The biggest outstanding issue is who will synchronize all of these efforts.

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are in talks with the Cypriots about how they can contribute to the maritime corridor, the official added. Officials from both governments didn’t respond to a request for comment, though there’s reporting of UAE-funded aid arriving in Gaza next week.