President Joe Biden has announced that the U.S. military will construct a temporary floating pier along the Gaza Strip's coastline to improve the delivery of much-needed aid to the Palestinians.
The chief executive made the announcement, a critical humanitarian initiative of his administration, during the 2024 State of the Union (SotU) address on March 7. The said port and causeway seeks to enhance the aid delivery in the besieged area. It also comes in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza aggravated by Israel's reluctance to open more land crossings or increase aid transport by land.
The floating pier is part of a broader international effort between several nations to establish a maritime corridor for direct aid delivery to the Gaza Strip. Once constructed, Washington will be in charge of the floating pier – which multiple nations can use. Ships carrying aid can unload at the mobile port, and trucks will traverse a causeway also constructed by the U.S military into the Strip.
Frustration has grown within the Biden administration over what it perceives as Israel's inadequate response to the urgent humanitarian situation. Thus, the initiative is anticipated to significantly increase the daily provision of meals, addressing the immediate needs of the population in Gaza. (Related: UNRWA warns of growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza amid continued Israeli bombings.)
Biden's announcement at the SotU address also followed recent efforts by the U.S. Air Force to air-drop meals into Gaza. However, this has been widely criticized as the air-dropped aid falls significantly short of the required sustenance for the more than two million Palestinian residents of Gaza. United Nations Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag even described the airdrops as merely "a drop in the ocean" of hunger.
Floating pier will surely involve "boots on the ground" as it won't build itself
During the address, Biden stressed that the floating port causeway won't require boots on the ground. He added that the operation is designed to involve regional partners for security and logistical support, ensuring the aid reaches its intended recipients.
But according to the Department of Defense (DoD), the construction of both the floating pier and causeway is a complex endeavor expected to take one to two months. It will involve up to 1,000 U.S. military personnel from both the Army and the Navy.
According to DoD Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the project will leverage the military's Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS) capability. This method allows ships to unload their cargo in areas lacking a fixed port facility. Ryder added that Washington last demonstrated this capability in the Talisman Sabre exercise conducted by the U.S. and Australia in 2023.
The DoD spokesman also mentioned that once the port and causeway are operational, it can provide up to two million meals daily to the Palestinian population in Gaza. He also mentioned that regional partners on the ground in Gaza will anchor the causeway onto the shore, emphasizing that U.S. military personnel won't be responsible for transporting aid from the causeway into Gaza.
"We are currently in the process of identifying, sourcing and – in some cases – pairing forces for deployment, Ryder said on March 8. "However, I can confirm that elements of the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary at Joint Base Langley Eustis in Virginia have been assigned to provide support."
Watch President Joe Biden's announcement at the SotU address about the creation of a temporary port and causeway in the Gaza Strip below.
This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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