JERUSALEM (AP) – The construction of a new port in Gaza and an accompanying United States (US) military-built pier offshore are underway, but the complex plan to bring more desperately needed food to Palestinian civilians is still mired in fears over security and how the humanitarian aid will be delivered.
The Israeli-developed port, for example, has already been attacked by mortar fire, sending high-ranking United Nations (UN) officials scrambling for shelter this week, and there is still no solid decision on when the aid deliveries will actually begin.
While satellite photos show major port construction along the shore near Gaza City, aid groups are making it clear that they have broad concerns about their safety and reservations about how Israeli forces will handle security.
Sonali Korde, an official with the US Agency for International Development, said key agreements for security and handling the aid deliveries are still being negotiated. Those include how Israeli forces will operate in Gaza to ensure that aid workers are not harmed.
“We need to see steps implemented. And the humanitarian community and IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) continue to talk and engage and iterate and improve the system so that everyone feels safe and secure in this very difficult operating environment,” Korde said.
A senior US military official said Thursday the US is on track to begin delivering aid using the new port and pier by early May. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public, said deliveries through the sea route initially will total about 90 trucks a day and could quickly increase to about 150 trucks daily.
The senior official acknowledged, however, that the final installation of the US-built causeway onto the beach at the port will be governed by the security situation, which is assessed daily. The Israeli Defence Force has a brigade – thousands of soldiers – as well as ships and aircraft dedicated to protecting the deliveries, the official said.
Asked about the recent mortar attack, the miliary official said the US assesses that it had nothing to do with the humanitarian mission, adding that security around the port will be “far more robust” when the deliveries start.
In addition, the US has rehearsed offensive and defensive measures to ensure US troops working at the pier and those on the floating platform several miles off shore are all protected.
Aid groups have been shaken by the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in an Israeli airstrike on April 1 as they travelled in clearly marked vehicles on a delivery mission authorised by Israel. The killings have hardened sentiment among some aid groups that the international community should focus instead on pushing Israel to ease obstacles to the delivery of aid on land routes by truck.
The World Central Kitchen staff, who were honoured at a memorial service Thursday in Washington, are among more than 200 humanitarian workers killed in Gaza, a toll the UN says is three times higher than any previous number for aid workers in a single year of any war.
