A US military ship carrying supplies to construct a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza has left the US.
According to a report by BBC, General Frank S Besson, the support ship, set sail from a military base in the state of Virginia on Saturday.
The US Central Command took to X and posted photos and shared that the US ship sailed "less than 36 hours" after Mr. Biden made his announcement. "Besson, a logistics support vessel, is carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies," he added.
On March 9, 2024, U.S. Army Vessel (USAV) General Frank S. Besson (LSV-1) from the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis en route to the Eastern Mediterranean less than 36 hours… pic.twitter.com/X70uttuY9J
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 10, 2024
However, construction of the pier will take as long as 60 days and require about a thousand US troops, Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder said. But charities have said that people in Gaza cannot wait that long.
There is no port infrastructure in Gaza. In order to avoid the need for security checks in Gaza, the United States initially intends to use Cyprus, which is providing a procedure for screening cargoes that will include Israel officials.
Meanwhile, another ship due to carry food to Gaza is still waiting in Cyprus, reported Reuters. The ship, owned by Spain's Open Arms aid group, remained at the port of Larnaca in Cyprus on Sunday afternoon.
Open Arms spokesperson Linda Roth described as "a quickly evolving and fluid situation," despite ongoing efforts to get aid moving across the new ocean route.
With primary funding from the UAE, the salvage ship Open Arms intends to tow a barge carrying 200 tonnes of food. The aid group has partnered with US charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.
WCK’s John is in Larnaca, Cyprus where our team is working alongside @openarms_fund, United Arab Emirates & Cyprus to send food aid by sea to Gaza. The maritime aid corridor will immediately allow us to scale our efforts & reach more families in northern Gaza.#ChefsForThePeople pic.twitter.com/3jq1KoGilE
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) March 9, 2024
WCK said it has another 500 tonnes of supplies in Cyprus, which will be dispatched in future missions.
The amount of aid brought into Gaza by truck has plummeted during five months of war, and Gazans are facing dire shortages of food, water and medicine.
Delivering food, water, medicine, and other necessities to the underprivileged will be made more difficult by the fact that Gaza is still a war zone and that a large portion of the enclave presents security risks to relief workers.
Of late, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticized by the US President Joe Biden. Netanyahu is "hurting Israel more than helping Israel" in the way he is conducting the war against Hamas in Gaza, which is in its sixth month, according to Biden.
