WASHINGTON (AP) — Even before President Joe Biden announced in 2016 his state of the union address There were plans to provide aid to Gaza by sea, and the army's 7th Transportation Brigade and other units were hastily gathering equipment.
They received the following orders before their speech: floating dock To provide food and other desperately needed aid to Gazan residents off the coast of Gaza. The aid is needed because Israel has severely restricted land access to Gaza, causing aid flows to trickle.
This is a complex operation involving as many as 1,000 U.S. troops, and it won't happen overnight. Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters it would take several weeks to come together. Some officials say they expect it to take about two months. And beyond the logistical challenges, the operation will depend on Israeli cooperation, which is not guaranteed.
Let's take a look at what we know about this surgery.
Why build a floating pier?
In the five months since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, Israeli forces have raided the territory and taken 30,000 people hostage, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. killed more than 1,000 Palestinians.result of israel-hamas war devastating humanitarian catastrophe.
The United Nations has announced that virtually all of Gaza's 2.3 million people are struggling to find food, with more than 500,000 struggling to find food. Currently facing famine. Many people rely on animal feed to survive.
Food, medicine, and other aid are difficult, if not impossible, to obtain at times due to ongoing hostilities and struggles to coordinate with the Israeli military. Routes were blocked and deliveries were delayed. Because of the test.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid must travel from the Rafah crossing with Egypt or the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, passing through conflict zones to reach the largely cut-off region in the north. .
Efforts to ramp up aid to Gaza have been hampered by obstacles posed by close ally Israel, a frustrating situation for the Biden administration.
Last week, the U.S. began air drop Regarding aid to Gaza. However, this can only provide a limited amount of aid and may not reach those who need it.
In a speech Thursday, Biden directed the military to build a temporary pier on the Gaza coast “capable of receiving large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelter.”
Biden said the pier “will allow us to significantly increase the amount of humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza every day.”
Assembles like Lego
Defense officials say the 7th Transportation Brigade, based at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, has already begun preparing equipment and vessels for so-called “Joint Coastal Logistics (JLOTS).”
It's like a giant Lego system. 40-foot-long (12-meter) pieces of steel can be fastened together to form a pier or causeway. The causeway will be up to 1,800 feet long and two lanes wide.
In the coming days, the U.S. military plans to begin loading equipment onto a large military maritime transport command ship. This equipment includes steel and small tugboats to help move things into place.
Loading is not likely to begin until next week, and once completed, the ship will depart across the Atlantic carrying members of the 7th Transportation Brigade. A number of other military units, both within the United States and abroad, will also participate in the mission.
Ryder said the military will build an offshore pier where large ships can load and unload food and supplies. Smaller warships would then transport the supplies from the floating jetty to a temporary causeway driven into the ground along the shoreline.
Biden said Thursday that no U.S. troops would be in Gaza for the mission, which would likely involve other allies, contractors and aid agencies.
What are the challenges?
A key question will be what Israel is prepared to do to support aid delivery efforts.
The U.S. airdrop was an unusual move by the Biden administration, which has been pleading with Israel for months to increase aid deliveries to Gaza and provide access and protection to trucks carrying supplies. It's here.
Biden said the Israeli government will maintain security at the pier to protect it from Hamas attacks. It may also be necessary to control crowds in case residents try to crowd the piers to get desperately needed food.
Officials said the sea route to Israel does not appear to need security, but allied nations and civilian vessels will be needed to deliver aid along the maritime corridor.
It is also unclear who will unload aid supplies at the pier and move them to shore.
What are aid organizations in other countries doing?
Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides several months ago proposed using the country's port in Larnaca as a possible route to deliver aid to Gaza, a distance of 230 miles (370 kilometers). Cyprus called on authorities in Israel, the United States and other European countries to join Cypriot agents in scrutinizing all shipments to ensure that Hamas cannot use anything against Israel. This proposal attracted strong interest from Americans, Europeans, and others, and the plan continued to be extended.
The European Commission announced on Friday that a ship carrying humanitarian aid was preparing to leave Cyprus for Gaza.
The ship, which belongs to the Spanish aid group Open Arms, is scheduled to undertake a trial voyage in the coming days to test the maritime corridor. She said the ship was in Larnaca awaiting approval for food aid from World Central Kitchen, a US charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.
Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the United States, told The Associated Press that the exact timing of the pilot's transport at sea will depend on the situation, but Sunday looks favorable. He said the UAE financed the operation and worked directly with Israel to prepare the transport without any problems.
World Central Kitchen is preparing a ship in Cyprus with 200 tonnes of rice, flour and protein, which will soon depart for Gaza, and a further 500 tonnes of aid is in Cyprus. “We are ready to continue,” spokeswoman Chloe Mata Crane said in a statement. .
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Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.
