Ship to build Gaza aid pier departs

A United States Army vessel loaded with equipment to build a floating pier off Gaza’s coastline has departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia for the eastern Mediterranean, US Central Command says.

The initiative – announced by US President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address – is intended to form part of a broader “maritime corridor” for aid that the US and its allies have pledged to establish into Gaza, where United Nations officials say more than half a million Palestinians are surviving on the brink of famine.

The pier could take as long as 60 days to build but, once established, it could facilitate the delivery of 2 million daily meals into the enclave, the Pentagon said.

At the weekend, Centcom said the dispatched logistics support vessel “is carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies”.

On Sunday, Biden expressed optimism that a Gaza ceasefire deal ahead of Ramadan, which began yesterday, was still “possible”.

The proposed deal would pause fighting for six weeks to free some hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, as well as increased humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza. But Hamas has been pressing for a more durable end to the fighting, which Israel opposes.

The United States sees the potential ceasefire deal as the first of three phases to secure the release of hostages and give civilians in Gaza relief, media reported.

Civilian suffering in Gaza has worsened, with hunger and a lack of aid beginning to claim lives, local health officials say. At least 25 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

Aid groups say the crisis is man-made, the result of insufficient entry points for supplies, Israel’s arduous inspections, and attacks by Israel on UN aid convoys and the police securing them. – Washington Post