US to build Gaza port to help food and medicine reach Palestinians
Israel parents blame ex-First Lady’s silence on ‘cancel culture’
THE US is set to order the building of a port on the Gaza coast to get aid into the war-torn territory.
Joe Biden was due to lay out the plans in his State of the Union address last night following pressure over the lack of aid getting in through Israel.
The port will be a temporary pier and will allow the shipping of food, medicines and other essential items.
He is also expected to have spoken about a new land crossing into northern Gaza to help get supplies in by truck.
A senior US official said: ‘ The president will announce he’s directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a port in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.’
Mr Biden is under pressure at home ahead of the presidential election later this year, with some Democrat voters feeling he is not doing enough to support Palestinians. It comes as his administration has been increasingly critical of Israel’s failure to open the way for more humanitarian aid to be delivered by land.
The move signals rising tensions with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has continued to bomb Gaza.
Officials said the operation to build the pier will not require American troops to be on the ground.
A second official told the Financial Times the port will include a temporary pier and is intended to provide ‘the capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day’.
The US will supply shipments through
Cyprus, in co- ordination with other partners and allies, the official said.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the largest provider of aid to the Palestinian territories, is flying to Cyprus on Friday.
And Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said his government had ‘worked tirelessly’ to design a humanitarian maritime corridor to deliver aid.
Aid groups have said it has become nearly impossible to deliver supplies within most of Gaza because of the difficulty of co- ordinating with the Israeli military, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order.
This move provides another layer to the dynamic between the US and Israel, as the US has had to go around its ally to get aid into Gaza, including by using airdrops. Yesterday saw a third US airdrop of aid, in northern Gaza.
FAMILIES of hostages in Gaza have blamed ‘cancel culture’ for the silence of prominent women on the matter of their release.
A ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign has been launched for 19 women who remain in captivity, in a nod to the slogan that called for the return of girls taken by Boko Haram jihadists ten years ago.
Feminist icons, including former First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Angelina Jolie, previously rallied to the cause of the captured Nigerians.
But aside from UK figures including Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and Countdown maths whizz Rachel Riley, the A-listers who fell over each other to pose with ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ signs in 2014 have stayed silent.
Gili Roman, 39, whose sister-in-law Carmel Gat, also 39, is among the 19 female captives, said: ‘ I am 100 per cent sure that Michelle Obama thinks it is wrong to take hostages. So the only question is why doesn’t she talk about it?
‘What I’ve learned from my visits in the US is the level of cancel culture. It’s basically a bullying tactic to keep people quiet, and it works.’
Ashley Waxman Bakshi, 38, whose 19-year-old cousin Agam Berger is a captive, also told of her pain over celebrities ignoring their cause. ‘It’s disappointing, frustrating and actually frightening to see the hypocrisy of celebrities worldwide,’ she said. ‘They were quick to recognise that it’s never OK to kidnap innocent people when it was done in Nigeria, but continue to fail to condemn it when it is done to Israelis.’
The image of the former First Lady holding a banner helped send the 2014 campaign viral. But her response to the hostage crisis in Gaza has disappointed many Israeli families.
Yoni Levy, 52, whose daughter Naama was snatched on October 7, has previously spoken of his anguish, given that the 19-year-old idolises Mrs Obama.
He told the New York Post: ‘Why has she, and all these other famous women Naama looked up to, and all of the human rights organisations she believed in, stayed silent about what has happened to my Naama and all the other girls?’
Ms Mordaunt yesterday told Parliament: ‘We cannot let these poor women and girls suffer what they must be suffering a moment longer.’ Ms Riley also shared the slogan online to mark 150 days since the kidnappings.
Hamas yesterday announced it was withdrawing from ceasefire talks as it stuck to demands for Israel to withdraw from Gaza.