Gaza port announcement is a desperate policy decision Biden hoped never to have to make
This is a significant announcement but details are scant.
The timing reflects the urgency of the humanitarian situation but it’s also about politics.
Here’s what we know so far.
President Biden has “directed” the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a port on the Gaza coast.
The word “lead” is important. It suggests other nations will be involved.
Cyprus will be the coordination point for this mission and for the sea bridge of aid once it’s flowing.
The island, more than 200 miles northwest of Gaza, has a significant British military presence so perhaps there will be UK involvement in the aid operation.
“Port” is a somewhat misleading word to describe what the Americans intend to construct.
It will take the form of a temporary pier or causeway that will allow aid to be offloaded from ships to trucks for distribution.
We are told it will take “a number of weeks to plan and execute” and that the forces required to complete the mission are either already in the region or will be moved there soon.
Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies in Rafah. Pic: Reuters
Importantly, American officials tell us that US boots will not be on the ground in Gaza.
A senior White House official said: “We’re not planning for this to be an operation that would require US boots on the ground but issues in terms of the dates – the timelines, etc – those are all things that we’re working through.
“The concept that’s been planned involves the presence of US military personnel on military vessels offshore but does not require US military personnel to go ashore to install the pier or causeway facility that will allow the transportation of humanitarian assistance ashore.”
Packages dropped from a military aircraft fall towards northern Gaza, as seen from Israel. Pic: Reuters
All of this leaves plenty of unanswered questions and exposes deep failures in diplomatic leverage the US has over Israel.
On that second point first, the Israeli government agency responsible for the flow of aid across the borders into Gaza, COGAT, has told Sky News that it could open up more land crossings but “that needs to be a decision made by the government and if they were to make such a decision then we would find a way to facilitate their decision”.
It added: “If the directive came from the [Israeli] government, then COGAT would find a way to fulfil that mission.”
That statement alone shows what the Israeli government could do but is unwilling to do, despite US pressure.
A US official said today that Israel has now agreed for a crossing into northern Gaza to be opened.
That said, there has been pressure for many weeks without success. It is not clear when this crossing will open.
It’s worth adding that Israel has been using numerous crossings to move its military in and out of Gaza.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gaza on brink of ‘desperate situation’
On the first point – the unanswered questions – there are plenty.
Who will build the infrastructure that will be needed on the land end of the pier?
Who will distribute the aid once it is offloaded?
Who will manage crowd control and prevent stampedes (which will be inevitable without considerable policing of a mass of desperate people)?
How long will all this take?
Read more:
US to build Gaza port as Palestinians starve – war latest
Is famine about to be declared in Gaza?
UK ‘ignoring suffering of Palestinians’, Iraq’s president says
As I mentioned at the start, there is a political dimension to all this, too.
President Biden will announce this emergency mission at his annual State of the Union address in Washington tonight.
It’s being billed as a make-or-break moment for him as he tries to counter significant criticism of his suitability to run for president again.
His polling is terrible. Gaza is a key challenge for him. He needs to show that he has got a grip on it.
Like the airdrop announcement last week, the port announcement represents a desperate policy decision that President Biden hoped never to have to make.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
Read more:
Who is in Trump’s top team?
Trump’s cabinet signals tough stance on China
Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway