image source, US CENTRAL COMMAND
The General Frank S. Beeson ship carries the first equipment to establish a port in Gaza
The United States announced, on Sunday, the sending of the first ship to the eastern Mediterranean, in order to provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by sea.
The US Central Command said in a statement that the US Army’s “General Frank S. Beeson” logistical support ship left Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia “less than 36 hours after President Biden announced that the United States would provide humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea.”
The ship “carries the first equipment to establish a temporary port for the delivery of vital humanitarian supplies,” the statement said.
Last Thursday, the American President announced in a speech that his country’s army would build a temporary port on the coast of the Gaza Strip, to deliver more humanitarian aid.
The US Department of Defense said that the construction of the port will take a period of up to 60 days and more than a thousand American soldiers will participate in it, and this plan will not include the deployment of any American forces in the sector.
The United Nations says that a quarter of the Strip’s population is on the brink of famine, and that children are starving to death.
In a related context, the Spanish aid ship “Open Arms” is still awaiting permission to sail from the Cypriot port of Larnaca towards the Gaza Strip.
It is hoped that the Open Arms ship will be able to depart before Monday, and this will be the first shipment transported to Gaza via the sea corridor from Cyprus – the closest EU member state.
The Spanish charity Open Arms explained that the Israeli authorities are inspecting a load of “200 tons of food, rice, flour and cans of tuna” in the port of Larnaca.
The Spanish organization indicated that the American charitable organization World Central Kitchen, which entered into a partnership with Open Arms, has teams in the Gaza Strip that are “creating a dock” to unload the shipment.
However, Open Arms did not provide details about the exact location where this aid would be delivered, who would be responsible for distributing it once it reaches the Strip or ensuring its security.
It is unclear how naval aid will safely reach the Strip before the American port is built; Gaza does not have an effective port and the surrounding waters are too shallow to allow large ships to move.
image source, Reuters
The ship is owned by the Spanish charity Open Arms, and will carry aid provided by the American charity World Central Kitchen.
The United Nations believes that airdrops or sending aid by sea cannot replace the land route.
Israel welcomed the sea corridor announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday, and said that the aid would be delivered after conducting security checks in Cyprus “in accordance with Israeli standards.”
Western countries pressured Israel to expand ground aid deliveries by facilitating more roads and opening additional crossings.
Trucks enter southern Gaza through the Rafah crossing, which is under Egyptian control, and the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is under Israeli control.
Humanitarian aid has been largely cut off from the northern Gaza Strip, where about 300,000 Palestinians live and suffer from a lack of food and clean water.
Israel has been accused of obstructing relief efforts, and last week an independent UN expert accused it of waging a “starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
The legal advisor at the Israeli mission to the United Nations, Yela Citrin, responded, “Israel completely rejects the allegations that it uses starvation as a tool of war,” before withdrawing in protest.
Netanyahu “does Israel more harm than good”
image source, Reuters
Diplomatically, US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “doing more harm to Israel than good” by his way of managing the war in Gaza.
In an interview with the American channel MSNBC, Biden considered that “Netanyahu has the right to defend Israel and continue attacking Hamas, but he must be more careful about the innocent lives that are lost due to the measures taken.”
During the interview, the journalist asked Biden whether the possible Israeli attack on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip constitutes a “red line.” The American president replied, “This is a red line, but I will never abandon Israel. Defending Israel remains of the utmost importance, so there is no red line that I want to cross.” During which arms shipments will be stopped completely, as then the Israelis will no longer be protected by Iron Dome.”
The assistance provided by the United States is necessary to operate Iron Dome in order to intercept rockets and missiles.
Biden added, “There are red lines… It is not possible for another 30,000 Palestinians to die.”
The United States is the main supporter of Israel, but the Biden administration recently directed sharper criticism of Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, and included calling on the Netanyahu government to take steps to increase aid to the Gaza Strip.
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