Type | Barge landing |
---|---|
Carries | Food aid from Cyprus |
Locale | Mediterranean Sea off Gaza Strip |
Characteristics | |
Construction | U.S. Army and U.S. Navy |
History | |
Construction start | 2024 or later |
The Gaza floating pier is a floating dock facility proposed by the U.S. Biden Administration immediately before the 2024 State of the Union Address. It is a response to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, including a famine, as a result of the Israel–Hamas war.[1][2]
It would be constructed by U.S. military forces on ships offshore the Gaza Strip, then connected with the shore by causeway, and when complete would enable delivery of maritime cargo for humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The pier was announced by President Biden in the State of the Union Address on March 7, 2024.[1][3][4][5]
President Biden warned Israel that it "must also do its part." "To the leadership of Israel I say this," he said. "Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority."[6]
During October and November 2023, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides developed the maritime aid corridor idea, named the Amalthea Initiative,[7][8] with European Union leaders at a humanitarian conference in Paris and elsewhere.[9][10] On November 5, 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Cyprus to discuss the maritime aid corridor.[11]
On November 20, 2023, Christodoulides said Cyprus was ready to ship large quantities of humanitarian aid to Gaza when a pause in fighting was declared. He said that in the short term shallow-draft vessels could be used to ferry aid, and in the medium term a floating dock off Gaza could be used. He had been in regular contact with the Israeli Prime Minister about the proposal, but getting authorization required careful negotiations. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Israel was "definitely in favor of the project."[12][13]
The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior Israeli diplomatic source said the plan was based on a proposal for a maritime route to Gaza via Cyprus for humanitarian assistance initiated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in collaboration with President Biden on October 22, 2023. The Jerusalem Post reported that on October 31, Netanyahu outlined this proposal to Cypriot President Christodoulides and on January 19, 2024, Netanyahu proposed to Biden a team should be set up to explore the proposal including inspection of all goods transported.[14][15] On December 20, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said "The creation of a maritime corridor to Gaza will help Israel's economic disengagement from the Strip", following a meeting with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos to discuss the maritime aid corridor.[16] Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had proposed a similar plan to Cyprus in 2010 when it was called the Lieberman Proposal,[17] and again in 2018 when he was Defense Minister.[18] In 2021, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid proposed the Gaza Development Plan which included a sea port on an artificial island under Israeli security control off Gaza.[19][20]
The pier will probably allow delivery of thousands of tons of food aid at a time, equivalent to "hundreds of truckloads",[21] via barge embarked in Cyprus and screened for contraband there.[22]
Over 1,000 U.S. military personnel will be involved in construction of the pier and 1,800 foot (550 m) long Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore (JLOTS) type modular causeway, over a 60 day period.[23][24] The part of the JLOTS system[25] to be deployed is a large floating modular unloading platform secured by sea anchors stationed about three miles offshore, allowing supplies to be then transferred by lighters to a modular causeway off the shore.[26][27] The project, known internally as the Blue Beach Plan, was partially developed by an advisory group called Fogbow, co-founded by Michael Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, and Sam Mundy, a retired Marine Lt. Gen. The plan includes potentially dredging a corridor on a private beachfront to aid unloading. The goal is to allow barges to approach the shore for aid distribution onto trucks. The military pier, once operational, could provide another way for aid delivery.[28][29][30]
On March 9, 2024, U.S. Army support ship General Frank S. Besson was sent from Norfolk to begin construction of the pier.[31] Four more ships with 500 Army troops left on March 12. The ships included landing craft USAV Wilson Wharf, USAV Matamoros and USAV Monterrey; and Besson-class support ship USAV SP4 James A. Loux.[32][33][34] In addition to Army, Naval Beach Group 1 from San Diego, and MV Roy P. Benavidez (T-AKR-306) from an East Coast maritime reserve force were assigned to assist in construction.[35] Roy P. Benavidez departed from Virginia on March 21.[36]
On March 12, prior to construction of the U.S. pier, a barge "testing" the delivery route, loaded with 200 tons of food from World Central Kitchen left the port of Larnaca in Cyprus for Gaza.[37][38] A jetty for unloading the barge was built at a location that was initially "not disclosed for security reasons",[39] but later discerned to be south of Gaza City (31°29′49″N 34°24′29″E / 31.497°N 34.408°E) by journalists using commercial satellite imagery or talking to local construction workers.[40][41] The Cyprus foreign minister, Constantinos Kombos, said on March 13 that the US pier and the food route out of Larnaca would become a single operation.[42] The first barge arrived and began to be unloaded at the World Central Kitchen jetty on March 15.[43][44]
The Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee chairpersons Mark Warner and Ben Cardin (both Democrats) requested briefings from the Biden administration on the force protection plan for the U.S. units participating in construction.[45] On March 28, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs told press that Israel would be providing security during installation of the pier.[46]
By April 5, Besson and Benavidez had reached the Mediterranean.[47]