President Biden is expected to announce in his State of the Union address Thursday that the U.S. military will build a port in Gaza.
The development was disclosed early Thursday by senior government officials discussing humanitarian aid to Hamas-controlled areas.
“In his speech tonight, the President will announce that he is directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to build a port on the Gaza coast in the Mediterranean that can accommodate large ships carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelter.” officials said. Said.
After Michigan primary, Democrats focus on whether Biden will thread the needle on Israel and Gaza
President Biden speaks during a meeting of the Competition Council in the State Dining Room of the White House on March 5, 2024. He is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address on Thursday, March 7, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
The official declined to preempt the Pentagon on the number of personnel involved in the operation or on security issues, saying a mechanism for distributing aid on land in Gaza was established with support from the United Nations and humanitarian partners. He said that it would be.
“This is expected to be an operation that does not require U.S. boots on the ground,” the official reiterated. “I think one of the reasons this development is so important is that we are building a redundant system so that we are not relying on one or two railroad crossings as a single point of failure in terms of receiving assistance. .”
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Another official on the conference call said that while the port construction operation involves U.S. military personnel aboard warships, “the There is no need for military personnel to land.”
This is a developing story. Please check the latest information.
