Israel has agreed to provide ‘security bubble’ for Gaza pier project
Israel has agreed to provide security for the temporary pier the U.S. military is planning to build in Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians on the brink of famine, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the plans.
Under the plans being discussed, which have not yet been finalized, the Israel Defense Forces would establish a “security bubble” to protect the U.S. personnel building the pier as well as the individuals involved in offloading and distributing the aid, said one of the officials, both of whom were granted anonymity to speak about sensitive discussions.
The IDF would also be responsible for physically securing the pier to the beach, the officials said.
The U.S. is still in the planning stages and nothing has been finalized, the officials stressed. Another partner country may also be involved in providing some security, depending on where in Gaza the pier is ultimately built, they said.
A spokesperson for the IDF said it “will be coordinating with the U.S. military to facilitate the project indeed” but declined to provide specifics.
The pier was promised by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address earlier this month amid concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where more than 30,000 people have died since the war began, according to Gaza authorities, and where U.N. officials have warned famine is imminent.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed the importance of getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, including security for the temporary pier, with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant during a meeting at the Pentagon on Tuesday, according to the second U.S. official.
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment for this story. A spokesperson for the National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The development shows that plans for the pier, which the Biden administration announced hastily after dozens of Palestinians were killed in February while scrambling for aid, are slowly coming together. Still, many questions remain about the project, even as several U.S. Army ships are already well on their way to Gaza.
The plan is already complex: A team of U.S. military personnel will construct a floating pier 3 to 5 miles off shore and a 1,800-foot floating causeway that will be anchored to the beach. Once the infrastructure is in place, vessels will be able to offload aid onto the pier, where small U.S. boats will then bring it to the causeway. From there, it will be taken to trucks and then distributed into Gaza.
U.S. officials have said Israel will play a role in securing the pier, but have not specified what that role would be.
The Pentagon expects the pier will take up to 60 days to complete, but will ultimately deliver more than 2 million meals. U.S. officials argue it will ultimately be a more efficient way of delivering aid in bulk to the people of Gaza.
But lawmakers from both parties have called for briefings about how the mission will actually work, including who will be responsible for ensuring the safety of the service members constructing the pier and who will distribute the aid once it arrives.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a senior Armed Services Committee member, said last week that he has “very serious questions about how the construction will be done, with the assurance of safety to our troops.” Still, he added: “I’m convinced that this kind of humanitarian effort is absolutely necessary.”
Republicans, meanwhile, have harsher words for the idea. House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) argued last week that the decision was politically motivated.
“I hate to say it, but I think this decision was politically driven by the president after Michigan,” Rogers said, referring to the “uncommitted” protest vote in that state's primary against Biden over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. “And he’s trying to be forward-leaning to try to do something to help the folks in Gaza from a humanitarian standpoint, but this is moving really fast and nobody can explain how it’s gonna work.”
