State of Union: Joe Biden orders US military to establish port in Gaza

Joe Biden will announce the Gaza port to get more aid into the enclave by sea in his State of the Union address but it won’t involve boots on the ground.

A worker carries bags of humanitarian aid that entered Gaza by truck in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip. Picture: AFP.

President Joe Biden has ordered the US military to establish a temporary port in Gaza for aid deliveries, as famine warnings multiplied after five months of war. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Hamas-run health authorities, whose numbers don’t otherwise distinguish between militants and civilians. President Joe Biden will tell Congress on Thursday that he has ordered the US military to set up a port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the beleaguered territory by sea, senior US officials said.

In his State of the Union address, Mr Biden laid out a plan, announced by officials earlier in the day, to set up a temporary pier in the Mediterranean to bring aid into Gaza from Cyprus.

“This port, the main feature of which is a temporary pier, will provide the capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day,” a senior US official said.

US officials said the “significant capability will take a number of weeks to plan and execute,” and would involve a maritime corridor bringing aid by sea from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

In his address, Mr Biden warned Israel that it could not use aid as a “bargaining chip” as he issued a call for an immediate, temporary ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza war.

“To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority,” the President told the joint sitting of congress.

Mr Biden again said that Israel was justified in attacking Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, over the massive attack on October 7 and said that the militants “could end this conflict today” by releasing hostages.

But he called the impact on Gaza “heartbreaking.”

“I’ve been working non-stop to establish an immediate ceasefire that would last for six weeks,” he said.

The deal would “get the hostages home and ease the intolerable humanitarian crisis, and build toward something more enduring.”

Mr Biden also reiterated his support for creation of a Palestinian state, a long-term goal opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government.

“As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution,” Mr Biden said. “I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel. My entire career, no one has a stronger record with Israel. I challenge any of you here.”

Mr Biden announced last week that the US was beginning airdrops of aid to Gaza, following an incident in which more than 100 people were killed at an aid station.

US officials were careful to stress that American troops would not be on the ground in Gaza, which has been under relentless Israeli bombardment since the Hamas attacks that killed more than 1200 people.

Militants also took around 250 Israeli and foreign hostages, some of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes 99 hostages remain alive in Gaza and that 31 have died.

AFP