(ProsperNews.net) – The Biden administration is sending 1,000 US troops to Gaza to provide food to Palestinians. Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the mission is to establish a “temporary pier” near Gaza, that will take months to construct and will serve as a base for meal distribution to Gaza’s two million inhabitants.
Observers say the move is an attempt by Biden to quell much of the criticism aimed at the President by the political left, which believes America is not doing enough to help Palestinian civilians. Maj. Gen. Ryder said the base will be off-shore, and small vessels will collect food and transport it to the war-torn region. Ryder emphasized, however, that US soldiers will not involve themselves in the armed conflict between Israel and the terror group Hamas.
The project, known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, is not unique. The US has previously enacted off-shore humanitarian schemes to facilitate disaster relief missions in Kuwait, Somalia, and elsewhere.
The plan, which Israel has approved, will depend upon security and could be subject to hostile fire, or storming by civilians. Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, a US Navy veteran, said a “security cocoon” must be established to prevent people approaching the pier from the shore. “That would shut down operations,” he said.
The BBC reports that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) will lead security efforts and prevent crowds from reaching the distribution pier from the shore. It will also ensure that aid reaches civilians rather than Hamas combatants.
Four US Army ships, loaded with concrete piers and construction equipment, departed from Virginia on March 12 as the mission got underway. The vessels left Joint Base Langley-Eustis and sailed down the James River toward the Atlantic for the month-long voyage to the Mediterranean Sea. The exact location of the pier has yet to be announced, but initial information suggests it will be around 550 meters long and accommodate two million meals per day.
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