ALBAWABA - The Pentagon has finished building a temporary port to carry humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea. However, bad weather has delayed the deployment of military warships to place the port along the Gaza shoreline.
Pentagon Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh offered information during a regular news conference in New York. Singh said the temporary port building is complete, but severe winds and waves have prevented military boats from leaving Israel's Ashdod Port for Gaza.
Singh said the makeshift port, which will open this weekend, will distribute relief with eight trucks. It can hold 150 assistance trucks when fully operating. She said that The Sagamora, a cargo ship from Southern Cyprus, would bring humanitarian aid from the US and other countries to Gaza.
The urgent humanitarian situation in Gaza makes land crossings the preferable way for assistance delivery, Singh said, notwithstanding the temporary sea solution.
According to Politico, the establishment of the new floating port would directly involve the United States in the war on the Gaza Strip, as it places US forces off the coast of Gaza to assist in delivering food, water, medicine, and other aid. The Biden administration has repeatedly stated that US forces will not enter Gaza but will instead remain at sea to ensure the safety of the floating port.
Singh repeated the Pentagon's opposition to large-scale actions in Gaza's Rafah sector in response to queries about Israel's ground assault. She worried about nearly one million Rafah refugees. Singh said Israeli officials told the US that the assault was a "limited operation." to prevent Hamas from getting weapons into Gaza.
