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US logistics ship “General Frank S. Besson” being loaded

Photo: dpa

A US Army ship carrying parts for a temporary port is heading to the Gaza Strip.

The logistics ship “General Frank S. Besson” left a base in Virginia on Saturday, the United States Central Command said.

It is transporting “the first pieces of equipment for the construction of a temporary pier.”

The US government announced on Thursday that it would set up a temporary port to bring food, water and medicine to the war zone in view of the humanitarian emergency in Gaza.

According to a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, it will take approximately 60 days for the temporary port to be fully operational.

Once it is built, it can be used 24 hours a day.

It would then be possible to deliver up to two million meals a day.

The spokesman said that in the meantime, the US was making efforts to expand aid deliveries by land.

Relief supplies would also continue to be dropped from the air.

In addition, a so-called maritime corridor for aid supplies from Cyprus is to be built.

The humanitarian situation of the people in Gaza has been deteriorating dramatically in recent weeks due to attacks by Israel.

United Nations representatives had recently warned that thousands of civilians were starving to death in the Gaza Strip.

Israel wants to coordinate construction

The Gaza Strip currently has no functioning ports.

A U.S. Army official told the New York Times that when a temporary port is built, a large ship typically docks offshore and a floating dock is built next to the ship.

Relief supplies could be loaded from this dock onto smaller boats and taken to a pier anchored on land.

The Israeli army agreed to coordinate the construction of the temporary ship pier together with the US armed forces.

Humanitarian aid could then reach Gaza by sea after appropriate inspection by Israel, Israel's military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Saturday evening.

International organizations would then take over the distribution of the relief supplies.

However, according to the New York Times, it is unclear how exactly the relief supplies will reach the population.

According to aid organizations, delivering relief supplies by truck is far more efficient and cost-effective than by ship.

Because of the heavy ground fighting in the southern Gaza Strip and ongoing shelling, trucks are unable to deliver goods there.

msk/AP/dpa/Reuters