March 8 (UPI) — Britain, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates and the United States announced Friday that they will work together to identify a maritime hall to deliver aid to the transitional port that the United States is building off the coast of Gaza. .
“The humanitarian scenario in Gaza is dire, with innocent Palestinian families and young people desperately lacking basic necessities. That is why today, the European Commission, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the United Kingdom announce their goal of opening a maritime hall to deliver more much-needed humanitarian aid across the sea, the group said.
Speaking in Cyprus, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the hall could start operating as soon as the weekend, with a dry passage that could leave the island for Gaza on Friday, U. S. President Joe Biden said. It would take weeks.
U. S. officials said Thursday that the U. S. military has “unique capabilities” that allow it to build the facilities to deploy U. S. troops to Gaza.
The task would take “several weeks to plan and execute” with the help, they said, of forces recently or soon deployed to the region. Once aid begins flowing, the United States will work with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to distribute it in Gaza. .
Biden officially announced the corridor plans that his State of the Union will address at a joint congressional consultation Thursday night, in a sweeping 90-minute speech in which he insisted that “American boots” would not be needed in the room.
Israel welcomed the sea show and insisted that shipments to Gaza would continue to be subject to security checks “in accordance with Israeli standards. “The BBC reported that the checks would be carried out in Cyprus.
The Israeli military has been accused of slowing down the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip and preventing them from moving freely within the territory once there. Israel, in turn, blames humanitarian organizations for the shortages.