U.S. setting up emergency port for Gaza aid
Temporary pier can receive large shipments of food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.
Daily TribuneTemporary pier can receive large shipments of food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military will establish a temporary port off Gaza’s coast to bring in desperately needed aid for starving Palestinians, President Joe Biden announced during his State of the Union address Thursday.
“Tonight, I’m directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” Biden told the joint session of Congress.
“A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting in Gaza,” Biden said.
While led by the US military, the operation will not put US troops on the ground in Gaza, he said.
The aid operation comes after the US carried out several days of airdrops of aid into Gaza, coordinated with Israel. Such massive operations generally take place in hostile or cut-off regions and have little precedent in territories controlled by a close partner and top recipient of US military aid.