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The U.S. military estimates that building a temporary floating dock on Gaza’s shores to speed up humanitarian operations might take two months.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the plan in his State of the Union address on Thursday, calling the situation in the Gaza Strip “heartbreaking” as the Israeli military continues its retaliatory bombings on Hamas after the militant group’s October 7 terror attack on Israel.
Pentagon spokesperson Patrick Ryder said on Friday that constructing the pier may require up to 60 days and the contribution of more than 1,000 American troops. Ryder confirmed Biden’s pledge that no U.S. serviceman will enter Gaza during construction operations.
Biden announced his pier plan after the United Nations raised the alarm about an “imminent” famine in the Gaza region amid reports that Israel’s military operation is hindering road deliveries of aid and food to the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million people. The U.N. on Wednesday warned that the population in Gaza is suffering from “catastrophic hunger” after more than five months of conflict.
Ryder said that the plan to construct the floating dock was in the early stages and that the U.S. military was engaging with other parties, including Israel, to work out the details, including the floating port’s security. Ryder said the scenario of an attack on the infrastructure by Hamas is “certainly a risk.”
The EU, meanwhile, is advancing plans to open a sea corridor to take humanitarian aid to Gaza from Cyprus. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on Friday that the first ship will disembark in the coming days. She did not mention the U.S. pier plan, and it wasn’t clear if there was a link.
