The construction works by the US military on an artificial, temporary port, which is expected to facilitate the delivery of more humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, have been completed halfway and more, the US Department of Defense announced yesterday, Wednesday.
In the face of delays and obstacles posed by Israel in delivering humanitarian aid through land routes to the Palestinian enclave, US President Joe Biden announced in early March the plan to build a temporary artificial port.
“To date, we have completed 50% or more of the installation of this port,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh to accredited journalists.
The port, the construction cost of which is expected to amount to around $320 million, is expected to be operational by the beginning of this month, according to US authorities. However, Washington insists that it cannot replace deliveries through land routes.
This announcement comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in the Middle East.
The head of US diplomacy visited Kerem Shalom yesterday, a point of entry for humanitarian aid from Israel to the Gaza Strip.
The day before yesterday, Tuesday, Jordan spoke of “real and significant progress” in the pace of aid entry, but added that “much remains to be done”.
A senior US government official reiterated last week that the entire population of the Gaza Strip (2.4 million) faces food insecurity.
The war broke out on October 7 when the military wing of Hamas launched an unprecedented raid on southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally by the French news agency based on official Israeli data.
In the extensive military operation launched by Israel in retaliation against the Palestinian enclave, promising to wipe out Hamas, at least 34,568 people have been killed, the vast majority of them women and children, according to the Palestinian Islamist movement’s health ministry.
