US To Open Aid Port For Gaza
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Stefan J. Bos
JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY (Worthy News) – Facing a backlash within his Democratic Party over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas, U.S. President Joe Biden was to announce that the U.S. military would construct a port in Gaza to get humanitarian aid into the territory by sea.
Planning for the operation, initially based on the island of Cyprus, does not envisage the deployment of U.S. military personnel in Gaza, officials told reporters ahead of Biden’s State of the Union speech.
The port will take “a number of weeks” to set up, the officials said, and will be able to receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters.
Initial shipments will arrive via Cyprus, where Israeli security inspections will take place, according to sources familiar with the situation.
It comes as the Hamas-run health ministry claimed that more than a dozen children have died due to malnutrition while the United Nations warned of famine amid ongoing fighting.
Additionally, Israeli forces were accused of opening fire last week on a crowd of Palestinians who were hoping to get food from aid trucks in Gaza City.
At least 112 people were killed and more than 769 injured, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said at the time, but Israel vehemently denied its forces deliberately fired at crowds.
STAMPEDE DEATHS
The Israel Defense Forces said many died in a stampede crush and that soldiers only fired at “several individuals” who approached them in the aftermath in a manner that suggested an immediate threat.
Israel also blamed Hamas for the lack of aid in Gaza, claiming the group is holding aid for itself and not distributing it to Palestinians.
The Israeli authorities have also expressed concern that Hamas uses aid vehicles to transport fighters and weapons.
Hamas denies all these allegations.
Israel also suggested there was a lack of cooperation between Palestinian authorities and aid groups as hundreds of truckloads of aid have been stuck waiting to be distributed in Gaza.
Between 200 and 300 truckloads were at the Kerem Shalom crossing point this week from Israel into southern Gaza, waiting to be picked up and distributed, said Israeli officials from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
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