Update On President Biden’s Plan For Construction Of New Emergency Port In Gaza, Other Humanitarian News – Good Progress But Not Enough

Humanitarian Port Construction In Gaza By US Military Aims To Increase Humanitarian Assistance Reaching Gaza, Ease Incredible Suffering

Editor’s note: Readers may remember the plan of the President to order the military of the US to construct an emergency humanitarian aid port directly on the water in Gaza.  The many aid drops are simply not enough to stave off a full-blown famine, which we will likely not know the full extent of for at least some time.  Learn more about the original port construction plan here.  It is unclear where plans currently are regarding the emergency port.  Israel has allowed the opening of the Ashdod port, which will probably help significantly.  In addition, humanitarian aid is flowing slightly more quickly into Gaza, and if that continues, the port may not be needed.  Most aid organizations have said that the land crossings are more important and effective than any port.  

And now, turning over to Gaza, I wanted to provide an update on our efforts to do all we can to increase the amount of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza and ease the humanitarian suffering.

As you know, when President Biden last spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu just last week, he was clear that Israel must announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, measurable steps to address humanitarian suffering.

The past few days have shown some promise.  Israel made the commitment to open the Ashdod Port for the direct delivery of assistance into Gaza, to open a new crossing for a new route for assistance to reach North Gaza, and to significantly increase deliveries from Jordan directly into Gaza.

And over the past few days, over 1,000 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have gotten into Gaza and with over 300 trucks going into Gaza yesterday — just yesterday alone.

That’s good progress, but it’s still not enough. And we hope to see the progress continue and accelerate.

Following was a question-and-answer segment about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Q    Good to see you too.  Thank you.  To jump off of what you were saying in your topper about Gaza, the USAID Administrator, Samantha Power, has said that she accepts as credible reports that famine is already underway in Northern Gaza.  Does the President and the White House share that assessment?  And if so, you know, you were talking about the progress is good, but more needs to be done….

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Exactly.

Q    What more can be done?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Exactly.  The progress is good.  More needs to be done.  I talked about the commitment that Israel had — the Prime Minister gave to the — to the President just last week, and [] I talked about the port, and I talked about the new border crossings in Northern Gaza.  We need to see that open up, that move forward.

But we’ve seen some progress — right? — the opening of more routes and also more trucks.  As I just laid out, we’ve seen more than 1,000 trucks in the last three days.

Look, specifically to Samantha Power and her comments, our  understanding is that the latest reporting from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification indicates that the famine is imminent in Gaza.  And that’s why we’re trying to do everything that we can to uptick, obviously, the humanitarian aid.

We know how dire the situation is in Gaza.  So, we are certainly deeply concerned about these reports.  And so, we’ve been working around the clock — around the clock to get more of that aid into Gaza.  And so, we’re going to continue to do this.  We’re going to continue to push Israel to increase the flow that is getting into Gaza.

And like I said, we — I’ve laid out their commitments.  There are two other ways that we want to see their commitment continue, which is that port that I just mentioned at the top and just moments ago, and — and so, also those — the routes — the routes in — in Northern Gaza.

So, there is more work to be done.  But, again, a thousand trucks over the last three days is an improvement.  It’s good promise.  We need to see more.

Banner Image: President Joe Biden departs after delivering remarks at the National League of Cities’ 100th Anniversary Conference, Monday, March 11, 2024, at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz). Image Credit – White House 

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