As the US rushes to build a port in Gaza, major challenges lie ahead

As the U.S. military races to build a temporary port on Gaza’s coast, the major practical challenges facing humanitarian efforts by sea to prevent famine in the area are becoming increasingly apparent. Obstacles include logistical, cost and security issues, diplomats and aid officials say.

But desperate conditions in Gaza, depicted in images of starving children, make the American-led international plan a necessity, they say, especially given strict security measures imposed by Israel that are slowing land shipments of food, water and medicine.

Even if it can overcome the hurdles, the international initiative will likely take several weeks, if not months, to reach its goal of delivering two million meals a day to the people of Gaza.

Citing the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Canada and Sweden are resuming funding for the main United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees in Gaza. The governments said the embattled agency had taken steps to improve accountability amid allegations that some of its employees had ties to Hamas.

The two countries were among more than a dozen that suspended payments to the aid agency, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, known as UNRWA, following accusations in January by Israel that a dozen of its 13,000 employees were working in Gaza were involved. in the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel or their aftermath.

UNRWA has argued that Israel, which has long called for the agency’s removal from Gaza, has attacked the country with a “deliberate and coordinated campaign” to undermine its operations when its services are most needed. Warnings of widespread hunger bordering on famine have become more urgent, and signs of desperation are increasing as people resort to consuming livestock feed or ambushing aid trucks.

In a government statement on Saturday, Sweden said it would make a conditional first payment of about $20 million. It said UNRWA had agreed to allow independent audits and strengthen internal oversight.

“In this urgent situation, where the need among the civilian population is so great, it is first and foremost important to save lives,” the statement said.

Canadian officials said Friday that they had received an interim report from the United Nations internal agency investigating the claims, and that UNRWA had taken immediate steps to improve accountability. The United Nations has also ordered an external investigation.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry reacted angrily to the countries’ decision, issuing a statement calling it “a serious mistake” that was reached before the investigation was completed. “The resumption of funding for UNRWA will not change the fact that the organization is part of the problem and will not be part of the solution in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said.

The European Union, one of UNRWA’s biggest donors, announced last week that it would substantially increase the organization’s funding, saying Palestinians faced terrible conditions and should not pay for Hamas’ crimes. The first tranche of 50 million euros, about $54 million, was due to be paid this week.

The United States has said it will wait for the results of a U.N. investigation before deciding whether to resume donations. It is the agency’s largest donor, pledging $344 million in 2022.

The multinational plan to build a functioning pier on the Gaza coast is undeniably ambitious. But aid officials have criticized it, insisting that delivering food by truck is by far the most efficient way to help Gazans. They called on Israel to open new border crossings in northern Gaza and ease entry restrictions.

U.S. officials have conceded it will take time, but say a maritime corridor will eventually allow them to vastly increase the amount of aid.

Gaza has no functioning port and its coastal waters are too shallow for most ships – especially the large ships that would be needed to transport the enormous amounts of cargo needed for hundreds of thousands of hungry Palestinians.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s executive body, said on Friday that officials expected to test the process in the coming days in what she described as a pilot project. But aid officials said it was not immediately clear how or where ships would unload their cargo or how it would be distributed with continued Israeli bombardments and attacks on aid trucks by both ordinary Palestinians and well-organized gangs. Hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents face the threat of famine.

The effort will be costly, but it is uncertain how costly. Initial estimates for the floating pier and shipping costs are in the tens of millions of dollars over several months.

But security and distribution, more than money, seem to be the bigger challenges. It is unclear who will manage and secure the port area and the convoys needed to distribute aid. In his State of the Union address Thursday evening, President Biden was adamant that no “American boots” would touch the ground in Gaza.

The Israeli invasion successfully toppled the Hamas government in northern Gaza, but nothing has filled the security vacuum, leading to widespread lawlessness in the north.

The remaining Hamas civilian police personnel could step in to provide security, U.N. officials have said, but their involvement would likely be unacceptable to Israel and the United States.

The Israeli army could patrol the convoys, but their presence would pose a challenge to the United Nations, which is working hard to avoid being seen as too close to any side in the conflict. The UN coordinates their convoys with Israel, but does not require the Israeli army to secure them.