WASHINGTON.- The US military completed the installation of a floating dock for the Gaza Strip on Thursday and authorities are preparing to begin bringing crucial humanitarian aid to the enclave more than seven months after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The completion of the work sets in motion the complicated process of distributing supplies more than two months after US President Joe Biden ordered the project to help alleviate hunger among Palestinians caused by the reduction in food arrivals. and other supplies. Deliveries have been hit recently after Israel seized the Gazan side of the crucial Rafah border crossing in its offensive on the Egyptian border town.
The sea route, plagued by logistical, weather and security problems, is designed to increase the amount of aid reaching the Strip, but is not considered a substitute for land deliveries, which are much cheaper and, according to aid agencies, much more sustainable. The ships will drop off the merchandise at an Israeli-built port facility south of Gaza City, and it will then be distributed by humanitarian groups.
American troops will not set foot in Gaza, according to American officials, who recognize the danger of operating near a war zone.
Intense fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian insurgents on the outskirts of Rafah has displaced around 600,000 people, a quarter of the territory’s population, according to the United Nations. Another 100,000 civilians have fled areas of northern Gaza where the Israeli army has resumed combat operations.
Source: With information from AP
