The United States sent four military ships to build a humanitarian aid port off the coast of the Gaza Strip

Four United States military ships with approximately 100 troops departed this Tuesday for the coast of the Gaza Strip, Loading materials to build a temporary port to distribute more humanitarian aid.

The initiative is part of US efforts to increase aid to civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory, where aid arriving by truck has been reduced amid Israeli military operations and there are currently severe shortages of food, water and medicine.

The mission’s lead ship – a heavy brown logistics support vessel – moved away from the military base in Virginia playing the Imperial March from the science fiction film Star Wars over its loudspeakers.

Three other smaller ships followed, They will also undertake an approximately 30-day visit to the Eastern Mediterranean.

New facilities include a platform at sea to transfer the load of humanitarian aid from larger ships to smaller ships and a dock to offload aid on land.

The project is expected to be operational “within 60 days”Brigadier General Brad Hinson told reporters.

“Once the mission becomes operational with all its capabilities, we will be able to bring 20 lakh food rations ashore per day,” he said.

American officials gave this assurance The mission does not involve deploying “troops on the ground”.However, during the construction of the jetty, the army will move to the coastal area, which will have to be anchored on the shore.

Hinson did not disclose security aspects or what assistance they would receive for this anchoring.

The current conflict began more than five months ago with an attack by militants from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israeli soil. In which about 1,160 people were killed, mainly civilians.According to an agency’s count AFP Based on Israeli data.

In response, Israel launched a retaliatory military campaign, which has so far killed 31,112 people in Gaza alone, according to figures from Hamas militants who rule the Palestinian territory.

To try to reduce the humanitarian crisis, First ship chartered by Spanish NGO Open Arms and filled with 200 tons of food It departed this Tuesday from Cyprus to Gaza through the sea corridor declared by the European Union (EU).

The United States and other countries have also launched packages of water and food by airplane.

North American Department of Defense spokesperson, pat rider, He explained that this Tuesday, the US military, together with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, distributed approximately 5,280 pounds (about 2,400 kilograms) of food, including flour, rice, pasta and canned food.

But the United Nations and various NGOs say sending aid by sea or air cannot replace supplies by land.

On Monday, the State Department highlighted that although Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has taken steps to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, it has not done enough, and So they urged him to do more.

The United Nations estimates that a quarter of the Gaza Strip’s population is at risk of starvation due to the humanitarian catastrophe resulting from the Israeli offensive.

(With information from AFP and EFE)