The U.S. military finished installing a floating pier for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with officials poised to begin ferrying badly needed humanitarian aid into the enclave besieged over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war.
The final, overnight construction sets up a complicated delivery process more than two months after U.S. President Joe Biden ordered it to help Palestinians facing starvation as food and other supplies fail to make it in as Israel recently seized the key Rafah border crossing in its push on that southern city on the Egyptian border.
Fraught with logistical, weather and security challenges, the maritime route is designed to bolster the amount of aid getting into the Gaza Strip, but it is not considered a substitute for far cheaper land-based deliveries that aid agencies say are much more sustainable. The boatloads of aid will be deposited at a port facility built by the Israelis just southwest of Gaza City and then distributed by aid groups.
You need military personnel from a country willing to do that. No one would trust Israel, Biden isn’t doing that in an election year. Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria don’t really care about Palestinians, or would make things worse with their presence. The US would block a UN presence more than likely. Europe is a bit preoccupied with Ukraine, and wouldn’t put troops into another war zone with limited up side.
According to the article, the US military is in charge of the boat routes and overseeing military checkpoints. I’m just suggesting they drive the truck.
Biden has been pushing for aid to get safely into Gaza. That’s why the US built the dock in the first place. Why would the US block UN assistance in delivering aid?
Because Israel doesn’t want the UN involved at all.
UN members are still providing humanitarian and defensive aid. The UK helped shoot down Iranian drones, and has been assisting in defending Israel from attacks in the Red Sea. They’ve provided Gaza with 150 tonnes of aid, including more than 13,000 blankets and 840 family-sized tents, entered Gaza on 13 March 2024.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-aid-en-route-to-temporary-pier-off-gaza
Individual nations are involved. The only presence the UN had was UNRWA and Netanyahu made sure they (mostly) disappeared … although currently an UNRWA health clinic is being shelled by the IDF. Source
I see your point, but it’s hard to tell if that’s the IDF targeting the UN or Gaza aid in general. They’ve been openly critical of both, but they’ve also attacked World Central Kitchen twice.
https://wck.org/news/amro
Pretty sure they don’t want to risk being dragged into yet another conflict in the Middle East. If someone got killed, hawkish republicans would demand an invasion and US troops
They’re already present as escorts through most of the route. I’m just suggesting they deliver the aid directly to discourage Israel and Hamas from targeting workers again. Both groups know better than to challenge the US military.
It wouldn’t be just delivering aid. Once the military is there it’s a military operation. Their goal can be protecting aid, but that also means they likely have to fire on hamas raids, or even the Israel army at some point and either case is bad for everyone.
In that case the best they could do is escort wherever legally possible to maintain it as delivery of aid while still offering protection. Do you have a source that explains the designation for military operation if the military delivers aid?
You won’t find any because no one wants to get near having their military force in Israel for any reason. It’s political suicide (not to mention the fact America’s armed forces are already short personnel).
Again, the US military is already facilitating the transport for the aid. It’s being delivered by a humanitarian organization, with the help of the US military.
Also, the US armed forces have not left Israel. They have maintained consistent presence since the early ‘90s. The only two active military installations in Israel are American bases.