By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), a floating pier built by the US military is now allowing humanitarian aid to be delivered into Gaza.
The pier was anchored to a beach in Gaza on Thursday and will be used to funnel aid from various countries into Gaza. With all border crossings into Gaza closed, dozens of trucks are lined up to deliver much-needed assistance into a war-torn Gaza.
“This is going to be a very sophisticated and professional process. The aid is going to be screened and palatized in Cyprus. It’s going to make its way over to Gaza, in which we’ll work directly with partners at the U.N. and the Israelis and trusted humanitarian organizations to ensure that aid gets to the places that it needs to go,” said State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel.
The goal is to deliver about 500 tons of humanitarian aid through the pier daily. This, as the Biden administration tries to balance support for Israel and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The Department of State says the US Relationship with Israel is ironclad. This week, House Republicans said that relationship doesn’t go far enough.
“President Biden is just not flouting the will of Congress and the American people, but he is also kowtowing to the radical left that frankly has embraced the anti-Israel movement wholeheartedly,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy (R- NY) during floor remarks earlier this week, voicing support for the Israel Security Assistance Support Act.
On Thursday, the House passed the Republican-led bill that would prevent President Biden from withholding weapons to Israel. The bill’s passage comes just over a week after Biden announced a pause on bombs for Israel, citing concerns of how the bombs would be used in the city of Rafah.
“We, of course, have legitimate concerns about the use of some of our articles in urban and dense settings,” said Patel. “We have yet to see a credible plan when it comes to any military operation into Rafa. And you’ve seen us put a pause on one shipment of bombs because of that legitimate concern. Outside of that, our security relationship with Israel is ironclad, it’s unwavering, and it continues to persist.”
16 Democrats voted with Republicans to pass the Israel Security Assistance Support Act. However, the bill is unlikely to be taken up in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
“This, that you see happening right now, is a brazen political decision by the President of the United States and by Leader Schumer, because they are clearly making this decision to appeal to a small subset, an element in their party that they’re trying to appease,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R- LA). “They’re trying to appease a radical band of pro-Hamas supporters in their party, that’s clearly what’s happening here, and it is affecting the stability of the entire region. And it is a great concern to the entire world,” said Speaker Mike Johnson (R- LA).
The administration has voiced opposition to the legislation, saying President Biden would veto the bill if Congress passed it.
“We’ll continue to have conversations with our partners in Israel about alternatives and making sure that we are clear about the concerns that we have. You have to remember, Rafah is a region where more than 1 million people are seeking refuge, it’s a key conduit for humanitarian aid,” said Patel.
CENTCOM also noted that no US troops went ashore in Gaza for the construction of the floating pier.
