WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Thursday it will send U.S. troops to set up a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, providing a sea route to bring food and other aid to desperate Palestinian civilians cut off by Gaza. They announced that they plan to participate in an international effort to open the facility. With the Hamas-Israel war and Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access from land.
The announcement signals deepening U.S. involvement in the war and escalating tensions and fighting in the region, which the United Nations says has brought near starvation to many of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million residents. It comes as President Joe Biden is under pressure to act more forcefully to de-escalate the situation. .
The administration also made a rare move after months of urging Israel, a close U.S. ally and top recipient of military aid, to provide better access and protection for trucks carrying humanitarian supplies in the Gaza Strip. It also shows that the government is resorting to measures.
Meanwhile, hopes of reaching a ceasefire before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins in a few days, appeared to have stalled on Thursday. Hamas announced that its delegation had left Cairo, where the talks were being held. The outline of a ceasefire would include a broad injection of aid into Gaza.
spread humanitarian crisis Tight Israeli control over aid trucks operating across Gaza during five-month war gone virtually the entire population Food is desperately in short supply, the United Nations says. Last week, health workers in northern Gaza reported that 15 children in the Gaza Strip had starved to death and another six were on the brink of death. Samantha Power, the U.S. director of international development, told Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog during a meeting to demand access and security for more aid trucks. The embassy said in a statement on Thursday that the United States is facing a number of challenges.
Israel has accused Hamas of looting some aid.
U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Biden's announcement before the State of the Union address, said the planned operation would include building a pier to allow for more food and medical shipments. He said there was no need for U.S. troops on the ground. Other essentials arrive from the port of Cyprus, an island nation in the Mediterranean. They provided few other immediate details, such as the number of U.S. troops participating.
U.S. officials have said it will likely be several weeks before the pier is operational.
One option being considered is for the military to provide a floating pier called JLOTS (Joint Logistics-Over-the-Shore), another U.S. official said on condition of anonymity before a decision is made. said he would discuss his options. Large floating piers allow supplies to be transported without establishing a fixed port, reducing the need to station troops at land-based wharves. Ships can sail to an anchored pier and moor there.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Thursday that U.S. officials and international partners are considering options, including using commercial companies and contractors to assist with transportation.
Related parties US, Europe, Israel, Middle East Both countries are already deep in discussions and preparations regarding the possibility of opening a sea route.
In November, Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides offered to use his country's Larnaca port to deliver aid to the Palestinian enclave. The journey from Cyprus is 230 miles (370 km).
European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was scheduled to visit Larnaca on Friday to tour the facility.
Cyprus early on asked authorities in Israel, the United States and other European countries to join Cypriot agents in scrutinizing all shipments to ensure that Hamas could not use them against Israel.
Support group revealed Their efforts to bring desperately needed supplies to Gaza They are greatly hampered by difficulties in coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities, and a breakdown in security. it's even harder to get aid to the isolated north.
The United Arab Emirates also said it was working with partners, including chef and humanitarian José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen, to launch sea deliveries and finalizing details and timing.
One senior U.S. administration official said while land transport may be the most efficient way to get aid to Gaza, Biden wants to “not wait for the Israelis” and deliver more humanitarian aid faster. He said he had instructed him to obtain one.
Sigrid Kaag, the UN's senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for the Gaza Strip, told reporters late Thursday after briefing the UN Security Council behind closed doors that air and sea transport would be replaced by land-based supply routes. He said there was no substitute for diversification and that it remained the “optimal solution”.
The Biden administration's latest move adds a new layer to the unusual dynamic that has arisen as the United States has had to find ways to bypass Israel, its key Middle East ally, and get aid to Gaza. It is something. Airdrop started last week.
Biden has become a key partner in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military offensive following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. That includes providing bombs and other weapons to Israel and fending off efforts to blame Israel at the United Nations for the rising death toll of Gaza civilians.
But administration officials have grown frustrated with Netanyahu, who appears to be ignoring much of the U.S. pressure on Israel to reduce civilian deaths and allow humanitarian aid.
According to the World Food Program, an average of 99 aid trucks entered Gaza a day in February, one-fifth of what is needed.
Brian Finucane, a former State Department official now with the International Crisis Group, said of the US announcements about interim ports and wartime routes: “This is an expensive and inefficient workaround to a problem that has other solutions. ” he said.
“This is another symptom of the pathology of the overall approach to the Gaza war…namely, the Biden administration's use of U.S. influence, unilaterally and multilaterally, to influence Prime Minister Netanyahu's war effort. “There is a reluctance to do so,” Finukane said.
Pressure on the Biden administration increased after Gaza health officials reported last week that more than 100 people had died in an attempt to transport aid to the isolated north. Israel said its forces fired warning shots as the crowd began to move toward Israel. Witnesses and medical workers told The Associated Press that most of the wounded were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of hungry people.
International mediators hope a six-week ceasefire will ease some of the looming crisis, allowing Hamas to release some of the Israeli hostages it is holding and allowing Israel to free Palestinians. Some prisoners will be released and aid groups will be given access to aid operations. Massive aid influx into Gaza.
Palestinian militants are believed to be holding about 100 hostages and the bodies of 30 others. October 7 attack by Hamas.
Egyptian officials said Hamas had agreed to the main terms of such a deal as a first step, but wanted commitments that would lead to an eventual deal. more permanent ceasefire. They argue that Israel wants to limit negotiations to a more limited agreement.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media about the negotiations. Both officials said mediators were still pressuring both parties to soften their positions.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Israel “refuses any commitments or guarantees regarding a ceasefire, the return of displaced persons, or withdrawal from invaded areas.” But he said talks were still ongoing and would resume next week. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Mediators had focused on Ramadan, scheduled to begin on Sunday, as the unofficial deadline for an agreement, as it is a month of sunrise-to-sunset fasting. Violence between Israelis and Palestinians is common Linked to access to major holy sites in Jerusalem.the war has already begun Larger area on edgean Iranian-backed group is engaged in a gunfight with Israel and the United States.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly dismissed Hamas' calls for an end to the war, saying Israel intends to resume and expand its attacks after a ceasefire. Crowded southern city of Rafah And they will continue to fight until “complete victory''. He said military pressure would lead to the release of the hostages.
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Mr. Sewell reported from Beirut and Mr. Magdy from Cairo. Tara Kopp contributed from Washington.
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