March 7 (UPI) — President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address Thursday evening will announce the construction of a port along the coast of Gaza to allow more humanitarian aid into the region.
ABC News, The Hill and Politico reported that senior administration officials briefed media outlets Thursday ahead of Biden’s address. One official said the port would be able to receive “large ships carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters,” while another said the port’s main feature would be a temporary pier that would “provide the capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day.”
Biden will direct the U.S. military-led operation, with assistance from ally countries and humanitarian partners, one official said. The initial shipments will arrive from Cyprus, which is about 230 miles from Gaza.
One official said the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are in talks with Cyprus about how they can contribute to the maritime route.
The United States will work with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to distribute aid across Gaza once it reaches port.
Officials said the U.S. military has “unique capabilities” that would allow it to construct a port without putting U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza. The project will take “a number of weeks to plan and execute” with assistance from forces that are already in the region or will be there soon.
The port will supplement aid the United States is already delivering via air drops and land routes. One senior defense official said the United States has provided Israel more than $180 million in aid to Gaza since Oct. 7.
Officials on the call, however, admitted the current aid shipments are not enough to mitigate the crisis in Gaza.
“We know the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough. The president will make clear again this evening that we all need to do more, and the United States is doing more,” one official said on the call.
Officials said the U.S. military is undertaking this operation because of Israel’s failure to ensure more aid gets into the region to alleviate the crisis caused by its ongoing war with Hamas.
“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,” one official said.
The United States continues to press Israel to open more land routes, saying it is the “most efficient, cost-effective” option.
Biden has maintained Israel has the right to defend itself in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks but also has called on Israel to do more to protect Palestinian citizens and allow more aid into the region via border crossings.
The announcement comes after the World Food Program earlier this week said a convoy of 14 trucks, the first it sent since suspending aid deliveries in late February, was turned away by Israel Defense Forces.
