1 of 3 | Troops of the U.S. Army's 7th Transportation (Expeditionary) Brigade, 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command and XVIII Airborne Corps prepare to embark the General Frank S. Besson at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, on Saturday en route to begin work on a temporary port to get aid into Gaza by sea. Photo by U.S. Central Command/UPI |
License Photo
March 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army logistics support vessel is en route from the United States to the eastern Mediterranean to begin construction of a cargo terminal off the coast of Gaza to bring in badly needed aid to the war-stricken Palestinian enclave.
The General Frank S. Besson set sail from Virginia with U.S. Army rapid deployment forces aboard and equipment and materiel to build a temporary pier onto which aid ships can offload humanitarian supplies, the U.S. military said Saturday.
"U.S. Army Vessel General Frank S. Besson from the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis en route to the Eastern Mediterranean," said U.S. Central Command in a post on X.
The ship departed within 36 hours of President Joe Biden's pledge to build the facility to get aid into Gaza by sea in his State of the Union address to Congress on Thursday.
On Sunday, CENTCOM said it had carried out a third joint aid airdrop with the Royal Jordanian Air Force over Northern Gaza, parachuting in more than 11,500 meals to provide "essential relief to civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict."
CENTCOM said in a post on X that as well as the meals, the drop by a U.S. Air Force C-130 transport aircraft contained flour, pasta, and canned food, providing "life-saving humanitarian assistance."
"The Department of Defense humanitarian airdrops contribute to ongoing U.S. and partner-nation government efforts to alleviate human suffering. These airdrops are part of a sustained effort, and we continue to plan follow-on aerial deliveries," said CENTCOM.
Airdrops of aid have been condemned by the Hamas-run administration of Gaza as "useless" in the face of the scale of the task of getting humanitarian supplies to the 2.4 million people in the strip who are in desperate need of water and food.
A "random" aid drop by an unidentified nation on Friday killed five children and injured several others west of Gaza City after cargo parachutes failed to open, according to Palestinian officials.
The United States strongly denied claims people had been hurt by packages from a drop its forces conducted on Friday, with the DoD saying it had confirmed that all aid bundles "landed safely on the ground."
Meanwhile, the first shipment of 200 tons of food using a new 240-mile Cyprus-Gaza sea corridor set up to ship aid to the temporary port the United States is constructing when ready, remained docked at Larnaca port due to "technical difficulties."
Cyprus government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis had stated that specific details of the movements of the Open Arms, a 120-foot Spanish-registered salvage/rescue vessel towing a loaded barge, would not be provided due to security concerns, but it was later reported its departure had been postponed to Monday.
Washington D.C.,-based World Central Kitchen and the Spanish charity Open Arms were attempting to bring a shipment of rice, flour, lentils, beans and canned fish and meat to an undisclosed location in Gaza.
The temporary port being built by the United States is not expected to be operational for at least 60 days.
