Faced with the emergency on site, the humanitarian response is intensifying.
The United States has announced a major operation to deliver more aid to Israel's starving Gaza Strip, as hopes for a quick truce between the Israeli army and Palestinian Hamas fade.
In his State of the Union speech on Thursday, Joe Biden said he had ordered the US military to establish a port in the Palestinian enclave, allowing “a massive increase” in aid.
“Tonight, I am ordering U.S. armed forces to conduct an emergency mission to establish a temporary port on the coast of Gaza that can accommodate large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelter,” he declared in front of Congress, assuring in passing that the operation will not require “any ground deployment of American troops”.
“I am working hard to achieve an immediate ceasefire of at least six weeks,” the American president also insisted, calling on Israel not to use humanitarian aid as a “bargaining chip.” ".
The White House, increasingly criticized inside the country for its support for Israel, is putting increasing pressure on its ally, which has besieged Gaza since October 9 and has only allowed aid to enter sparsely since then. Egypt.
“Widespread famine almost inevitable”
Construction of a “temporary pier” will take several weeks, American officials said, adding that the Israelis had been informed.
The maritime aid will leave, according to them, from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, the European Union country geographically closest to Gaza, where the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is expected on Friday.
Washington has also started dropping aid to Gaza almost a week ago.
The Pentagon and the Jordanian army had already announced on Thursday that new aid airdrops by military planes from the United States and Jordan, but also from France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Egypt.
“American C-130 planes dropped more than 38,000 meals” on northern Gaza, the American military command for the Middle East, Centcom, indicated on X.
But these airdrops, or even the delivery of aid by sea, cannot replace the land route according to the UN, which warns of an “almost inevitable widespread famine” in Gaza.
The diversification of land supply routes (…) remains the optimal solution: easier, faster, cheaper,” underlined the UN aid coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, after a closed meeting of the Council security Thursday.
Also read: Gaza: despite the UN's fear of "generalized famine", why is it so difficult for humanitarian aid to arrive?
On Monday, a Pentagon spokeswoman said that between 30 and 120 trucks had been able to send aid to Gaza each day over the past week, recognizing a "clearly insufficient" toll.
However, she clarified that the new air drops should complement and not replace land delivery routes.
According to the UN, of the 2.4 million people in the cramped territory, 2.2 million are at risk of starvation due to severe shortages of food and drinking water.
In addition, 1.7 million people have been displaced by the Israeli fighting and strikes, which have also caused colossal destruction and reduced the hospital system to shreds.