A U.S. plan to build a temporary port off the coast of Gaza to boost humanitarian supplies is aimed at diverting attention from hundreds of thousands of starving Palestinians and Israel's consistent blocking of aid to the enclave. It has been criticized as an attempt to
In his State of the Union address on Thursday, US President Joe Biden asked the US military to lead an emergency mission to set up a “temporary pier” off Gaza's Mediterranean coast to receive ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelter. He said he was giving instructions. .
The initial plan for the operation, which was based on the island of Cyprus, did not envisage the dispatch of U.S. troops to Gaza.
“America's boots will not be on the ground,” Biden said.
Israel's Biden administration has come under growing criticism for severely restricting the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza by land and prompting the US to airlift 36,000 meals to northern Gaza. continues to supply weapons to the Israeli military and remains a staunch ally of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr. Biden offered few logistical details, but U.S. officials said the operation “will take several weeks to plan and execute” and that the necessary U.S. troops are in the region or will begin moving soon. Stated. The US government also plans to coordinate with the Israeli military regarding the security situation on the Gaza coast.
Gaza port plans 'diversion'
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Al Jazeera on Friday that the plan to build a port in Gaza “is not a new idea.”
“This appears to be just another attempt to distract from the real problem, which is that 700,000 people are currently starving in northern Gaza, but Israel is denying humanitarian assistance to them and the rest of the Gaza Strip. We don’t allow it,” he said.
Barghouti said large quantities of aid were waiting to arrive in the Gaza Strip's enclave on the Egyptian border, adding: “The international community is doing nothing to pressure Israel to end this blockade.” added.
Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said Biden's announcement was a distraction from the US government's continued support for Israel.
“I think statements like this in the State of the Union address are more theatrical and propaganda than an honest attempt to end the suffering in Gaza,” Bishara said.
Mark Owen-Jones, associate professor of Middle East studies and digital humanities at Hamad bin Khalifa University, told Al Jazeera that Biden's focus on foreign policy in his speech, specifically on the war in Gaza, was “fundamentally about Gaza. “We are trying to reaffirm our support for this,” he said. First, Israel is trying to assuage some of the criticism it has received from members of its own party over the U.S. response to Gaza. ”
He said Biden's orchestrating the war by “adopting the argument that what Israel is doing, all the genocide, all the mass killings, is a response to October 7th” shows that the US remains firmly committed to dealing with Israel. It added that it was sending a clear message that it was working together. He expressed frustration at the lack of aid to Gaza.
There is no substitute for aid delivery by road
Sigrid Kaag, UN Coordinator for Humanitarian and Reconstruction in Gaza, welcomed the US plan to provide maritime access for aid shipments to Gaza.
“At the same time, I can't help but repeat that air and sea are not substitutes for land, and no one is saying they are different,” Kaag told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. he said.
“The easiest way to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip is to use the existing crossing point, namely Karem Abu Salem,” a spokesperson for the United Nations Palestinian Authority said this week. [called Kerem Shalom by Israel] and Rapha from Egypt.”
Tamara al-Rifai told Al Jazeera that existing land crossings are “faster, safer and more economical” than sea routes or air drops.
“Why reinvent the wheel? Let’s use what we already have and what has worked so far,” al-Rifai said, adding that “there are constant calls for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to flow in. ” he emphasized.
Since 1967, Israel has had full control of the Gaza Strip's coastline and territorial waters, preventing ships from reaching the Strip.
Since 2007, Israel has closed almost all border crossings in the Gaza Strip, and the port of Gaza is under Israeli naval blockade, making it the only port in the Mediterranean Sea closed to shipping.
After Israel started a war in the enclave, it allowed only small aid through the Karem Abu Salem crossing and the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Israeli forces also target Palestinians waiting for food aid. On February 29, Israeli forces opened fire on hundreds of families waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City, killing at least 112 Palestinians and wounding more than 750 others.