The American Port...a pier that builds the rubble of Gaza and the remains of its martyrs

Part of the construction work of the temporary port on the Gaza coast (Anatolia)

Throughout about 6 months of the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians have been calling for the entry of heavy machinery and equipment to help them remove the rubble of the homes bombed by Israel in order to retrieve the bodies of the martyrs and the wounded from underneath them, but their appeals have gone unheeded, and the wounded have been left to certain death under the rubble and thousands of martyrs buried beneath it. .

In recent weeks, also due to the impact of the war, dozens of heavy vehicles and equipment began entering Gaza from the Israeli side with American support, but not to retrieve the wounded and martyrs, but rather to transport rubble that the Palestinians say is filled with the remains of their martyrs, to be used in building a sea pier on the Gaza coast that Washington and Tel Aviv say is It will be dedicated to bringing humanitarian aid to the sector.

Anadolu Agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying that dozens of bulldozers and giant trucks were working to transport thousands of tons of rubble from homes destroyed by Israel over the past months from various areas in Gaza to the shore of the stricken city for use in building the new sea pier.

US President Joe Biden announced on March 7 that he had instructed his country's army to establish a temporary port on the coast of Gaza to bring in aid.

Last month, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced the details of the port, which will be 500 meters long and take about two months to build, while Israel welcomed the idea and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in statements he made to the press that he was “the owner of the idea of ​​the port.”

An American military unit began building the pier that Biden announced off the shores of Gaza (communication sites)

Tons of rubble and remains of martyrs

Palestinian civil engineer Fathi Riyad says that building the pier requires hundreds of thousands of tons of rubble from destroyed homes, and this means collecting it from all areas of Gaza City, as they are closest to the new port.

He pointed out in an interview with Anadolu Agency that "transporting these tons of rubble requires a large number of trucks and giant bulldozers, and therefore it is not possible to rely on the machinery available in the sector with local companies because they have weak capabilities."

He confirms that dozens of huge vehicles have entered Gaza over the past weeks and have already begun transporting huge quantities of rubble from homes to the new port.

It is expected that the construction of the new pier will be completed within a period not exceeding 3 months in light of the huge capabilities available for this, both from American vehicles and forces contributing to the project.

Palestinians who were recently displaced from Gaza City to the south of the Strip via Al-Rashid Street adjacent to the seashore say that they saw dozens of trucks transporting the rubble of homes bombed by Israel in various areas of Gaza City to the new port area.

Eyewitnesses confirm, in testimonies they gave to Anadolu Agency, that hundreds of homes destroyed by Israeli army raids still have bodies of martyrs under their rubble that rescue crews were unable to recover due to weak capabilities, and it is certain that the large amounts of rubble being transported are mixed with body parts and blood of war victims.

"A sidewalk smells like death"

According to a report prepared by the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, published last Thursday, on the situation in the Palestinian territories, thousands of people are still missing as a result of the Israeli war on Gaza, indicating that many of the missing are buried under their destroyed homes.

The head of the Palestinian caretaker government, Muhammad Shtayyeh, also said during the weekly government meeting in Ramallah on Monday that the waterway pier being built on the Gaza coast is “a pier with the smell of death.”

Shtayyeh continues, "Is it possible that the sidewalk of the waterway that is being built on the Gaza coast is made of the remains of demolished buildings, filled with the bodies of the martyrs that were buried under the rubble? This is the sidewalk of a waterway with the smell of death."

They invoke humanity

For his part, Palestinian political analyst Osama Abdel Hadi says, “The United States of America and Israel are using humanity as an excuse regarding the construction of the new port on the shore of the Gaza Sea, and in reality they are far from humanity.”

Abdul Hadi adds, "If they were honest, they would have brought the giant trucks and bulldozers that entered Gaza to build the port, in order to save thousands of wounded people who continued to bleed to death under the rubble of homes destroyed by the occupying state."

He continues, "These mechanisms and equipment entered Gaza in order to build a port that would achieve Israel's interests by controlling the Gaza coast and trying to marginalize the Rafah land crossing on the border with Egypt and extract Palestinian sovereignty over it, in addition to encouraging Palestinians to immigrate through the new pier."

Displacement and tightening of the siege

Abdul Hadi believes that the Israeli welcome of establishing the port and activating the sea corridor raises doubts, as Israel is besieging Gaza, closing its crossings, and obstructing the entry of aid, and it is unreasonable for it to take this step unless it achieves a hidden interest for itself and it appears that it is actually linked to encouraging the migration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

This talk reinforces Netanyahu’s statements that “the port can facilitate the removal of Palestinians from Gaza,” adding that “there is no obstacle to the Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip, except for the unwillingness of other countries to accept them.”

Netanyahu made the aforementioned statements last week during a special meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in Parliament (Knesset), according to the Israeli Kan channel.

Osama Abdel Hadi also believes that the port and the entry of humanitarian aid through it will be a pretext for the United States and Israel to control part of the Gaza coast under the pretext of protecting the port, facilitating the arrival of aid, and preventing Hamas from controlling it.

He says, "The Gaza Seashore is the only outlet for the residents of the Gaza Strip, and before the war it was crowded with cafes, restaurants, and entertainment venues. The presence of American or Israeli forces to allegedly protect the port will mean preventing the Palestinians from accessing a wide area of ​​the beach, which is the most important area, because the port is being built in the most vital area in the Gaza Strip." ".

The Palestinian political analyst considers this American port a tool to tighten the siege on the Palestinians, explaining that the United States will not allow any presence of the Hamas movement and its institutions or even local Palestinian institutions in the port’s working mechanism, and therefore the port will operate according to the desire and restrictions that Israel wants. Accordingly, he believes that “this port is occupied and allows the American army to enter the borders of Gaza.”

Earlier this month, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhry, denounced the American initiative to build the pier.

He said, "It is the first time I have heard anyone say that we need to use a pier. No one has asked for a pier, neither the Palestinian people nor the humanitarian community."

Fakhri described the American proposal as "malicious and came in response to electoral interests," pointing out that the United States is at the same time providing bombs, ammunition, and financial support to Israel in its war on Gaza.

Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia