The US military has begun construction of a jetty at sea that will allow humanitarian aid to be flown into Gaza, the Pentagon announced today – a move expected to make the jetty operational by early May.
In March, President Joe Biden announced that the military would build a temporary port on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian aid by sea.
This construction is being implemented as part of the effort to prevent famine in the Palestinian enclave five months after Israel’s military campaign against Hamas. These operations have devastated the small Gaza Strip and plunged its 2.3 million inhabitants into humanitarian disaster.
“I can confirm that US warships, including the USNS Benavidez, have begun constructing the initial stages of the temporary pier and runway at sea,” Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder told reporters.
The UN has warned that Gaza will face famine and has complained of “overwhelming obstacles” in receiving aid and distributing it around the enclave.
Aid agencies and the Biden administration have called on Israel to ease aid delivery access to Gaza and allow aid convoys to pass safely through the territory.
This temporary port is expected to allow warships or merchant ships to leave their cargo there. The aid will then be transported by logistics ships to a jetty on the coast.
US officials said the move would not involve “troops on the ground” in the war-torn Palestinian enclave. However, US soldiers will be near the Gaza Strip during the construction of the jetty, which will be overseen by Israeli troops.
Non-governmental organizations will likely be responsible for distributing the aid once it is delivered to the enclave, the Pentagon has already announced.
Shells near a UN mission
Meanwhile, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said today that a UN team in the Gaza Strip visiting the site for a jetty and the preparation area for maritime assistance operations had to shelter in place “for some time” on Wednesday after the fire. received by the region.
Two shells hit the ground nearly 100 meters away, but there were no injuries and the UN team was eventually able to continue their tour, the spokesman said.
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