US military ship has left to help build a pier near Gaza for aid
The US military said on Sunday that a ship had left with equipment to build a floating pier on the Gaza coast, part of the Biden administration’s efforts to deliver aid to the enclave by sea and help ease its hunger crisis .
The government’s plan for a pier and causeway, announced last week, could ultimately help deliver as many as two million meals a day to Gazans. But the Pentagon has said the project will take weeks to complete, and humanitarian officials have criticized the plans, saying delivering aid by truck is much more efficient.
On Sunday, the US military said an army ship, the General Frank S. Besson, had left a day earlier from a base near Norfolk, Virginia.
“Besson, a logistics support ship, is transporting initial equipment to set up a temporary pier to deliver essential humanitarian supplies,” the report said. a message on social media.
The Pentagon has said that one of the key military units involved in the construction of the floating pier would be the Army’s Seventh Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), and that approximately 1,000 U.S. service members would be working to complete the pier.
The Israeli military will help coordinate the installation of the pier, Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli military, said Saturday. Shipments will be inspected by Israeli forces before being handed over to aid groups that will distribute the goods, he said.
The US project is the latest in a series of efforts to get more aid into the enclave – including by sea – amid warnings from the United Nations that a famine is looming in Gaza.
Such plans will come with significant logistical challenges and a hefty price tag, diplomats and officials say. Aid officials have said trucks are the most efficient and cheapest way to deliver food and supplies to Gaza, and are urging Israel to open more crossings and ease entry restrictions.
Britain, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates said Friday they would join a separate maritime initiative to get aid to Gaza.
And on Saturday, World Central Cuisinea non-profit organization founded by the renowned Spanish chef José Andrés, said his staff was loading a cargo ship in Cyprus with 200 tons of rice, flour and proteins. It added that the ship was expected to depart from Larnaca, Cyprus, as soon as possible, making an estimated 60-hour journey to the Gaza Strip.
The ship, named Open Arms, is owned by a Spanish aid group of the same name that is a partner in the initiative along with the United Arab Emirates. They are trying to bring the first sea freight of food and humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Helene Kuiper, Gaya Gupta And Aaron Bokserman reporting contributed.