It would be constructed by U.S. military forces on ships offshore the
Gaza Strip, then connected with the shore by
causeway, and when complete would enable delivery of maritime cargo for humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The pier was announced by
President Biden in the State of the Union Address on March 7, 2024.[1][2][3][4]
President Biden warned Israel that it "must also do its part." "To the leadership of Israel I say this," he said. "Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority."[5]
On November 20, 2023, Christodoulides said Cyprus was ready to ship large quantities of humanitarian aid to Gaza when a pause in fighting was declared. He said that in the short term shallow-draft vessels could be used to ferry aid, and in the medium term a floating dock off Gaza could be used. He had been in regular contact with the Israeli Prime Minister about the proposal, but getting authorization required careful negotiations. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Israel was "definitely in favor of the project."[11][12]
The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior Israeli diplomatic source said the plan was based on a proposal for a maritime route to Gaza via Cyprus for humanitarian assistance initiated by Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu in collaboration with President Biden on October 22, 2023. The Jerusalem Post reported that on October 31, Netanyahu outlined this proposal to Cypriot President Christodoulides and on January 19, 2024, Netanyahu proposed to Biden a team should be set up to explore the proposal including inspection of all goods transported.[13][14] On December 20, Israeli Foreign Minister
Eli Cohen said "The creation of a maritime corridor to Gaza will help Israel's economic disengagement from the Strip", following a meeting with Cypriot Foreign Minister
Constantinos Kombos to discuss the maritime aid corridor.[15] Israeli Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman had proposed a similar plan to Cyprus in 2010 when it was called the
Lieberman Proposal,[16] and again in 2018 when he was Defense Minister.[17] In 2021, Israeli Foreign Minister
Yair Lapid proposed the
Gaza Development Plan which included a sea port on an
artificial island under Israeli security control off Gaza.[18][19]
The pier will probably allow delivery of thousands of tons of food aid at a time, equivalent to "hundreds of truckloads",[20] via barge embarked in Cyprus and screened for contraband there.[21]
Over 1,000 U.S. military personnel will be involved in construction of the pier and 1,800 foot (550 m) long Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore (JLOTS) type modular causeway, over a 60 day period.[22][23] The part of the JLOTS system[24] to be deployed is a large floating modular unloading platform secured by sea anchors stationed about three miles offshore, allowing supplies to be then transferred by
lighters to a modular causeway off the shore.[25][26] The project, known internally as the Blue Beach Plan, was partially developed by an advisory group called Fogbow, co-founded by
Michael Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, and
Sam Mundy, a retired Marine Lt. Gen. The plan includes potentially dredging a corridor on a private beachfront to aid unloading. The goal is to allow barges to approach the shore for aid distribution onto trucks. The military pier, once operational, could provide another way for aid delivery.[27][28][29]
Fogbow plan
The Fogbow plan is a strategy created by the American advisory group Fogbow, founded by
Michael Mulroy and
Sam Mundy and managed by former US military and intelligence personnel, to establish a maritime corridor. According to the initial Fogbow plan, a significant portion of aid will be transported using Masri trucks to the Gaza Industrial Zone, a specified area within the Gaza sector. Additionally, Fogbow aims to set up a new beach landing site for delivering humanitarian aid. This initiative seeks to improve aid distribution by increasing the number of drop zones along the coast, making it easier to transport aid to remote areas that are difficult to reach by typical overland routes. The
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have agreed to provide security assistance to Fogbow. To support the implementation of this plan, funding will be directed through a recently established foundation called the "Maritime Humanitarian Aid Foundation."[30][31][32]
Construction and route history
On March 9, 2024, U.S. Army support ship General Frank S. Besson was sent from Norfolk to begin construction of the pier.[33] Four more ships with 500 Army troops left on March 12. The ships included
landing craft USAV Wilson Wharf, USAV Matamoros and USAV Monterrey; and Besson-class support ship
USAV SP4 James A. Loux.[34][35][36] In addition to Army,
Naval Beach Group 1 from San Diego, and
MV Roy P. Benavidez (T-AKR-306) from an East Coast maritime reserve force were assigned to assist in construction.[37]Roy P. Benavidez departed from Virginia on March 21.[38]
On March 12, prior to construction of the U.S. pier, a barge "testing" the delivery route, loaded with 200 tons of food from
World Central Kitchen left the port of
Larnaca in Cyprus for Gaza.[39][40] A jetty for unloading the barge was built at a location that was initially "not disclosed for security reasons",[41] but later discerned to be south of Gaza City (31°29′49″N34°24′29″E / 31.497°N 34.408°E / 31.497; 34.408 (Gaza WCK jetty)) by journalists using commercial satellite imagery or talking to local construction workers.[42][43] The Cyprus foreign minister,
Constantinos Kombos, said on March 13 that the US pier and the food route out of Larnaca would become a single operation.[44] The first barge arrived and began to be unloaded at the World Central Kitchen jetty on March 15.[45][46]
The Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee chairpersons
Mark Warner and
Ben Cardin (both Democrats) requested briefings from the Biden administration on the
force protection plan for the U.S. units participating in construction.[47] On March 28, the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs told press that Israel would be providing security during installation of the pier.[48]
By April 5, Besson and Benavidez had reached the Mediterranean.[49] By April 17, Besson, Benavidez and three other Army vessels had reached Crete.[50]
The
Royal Navy is participating in the effort.
RFA Cardigan Bay is used by American soldiers and sailors as a dormitory.[51]
On April 26, 2024, construction of the pier by US forces began,[52] and satellite photos published a few days later showed Benavidez building the dock 8 kilometers from the Gaza shore.[53]
^Karen DeYoung (March 7, 2024).
"Live updates and analysis of Biden's address". Washington Post. Biden announces his new initiative for the U.S. military to build a port and a pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by ship, and quickly repeats his call for a two-state solution as the only path to peace.
^Eglash, Ruth Marks; Harkov, Lahav (13 March 2024).
"Food airdrops, pier construction can't overcome chaos in Gaza aid distribution, say officials". Jewish Insider. New York. Retrieved 16 March 2024. Contrary to the Biden administration's portrayal of the initiative as a way to bypass Israel, Jewish Insider heard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tout the idea in a press briefing – off the record at the time – on Nov. 5, 2023. Netanyahu said at the time, less than a month into the war, that he had already discussed the idea with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
^de Vega, Luis; Hierro, Lola (March 13, 2024).
"Operation Safeena: The thousand and one obstacles to bringing aid to Gaza by sea". El Pais. Another problem was how to unload the aid in Gaza when there are no working ports left. For this reason, WCK has been building a jetty for weeks with rubble and the remains of bombed buildings and with some cranes and construction machines that still work. Its location has not been disclosed for security reasons.
^"Cyprus says its maritime aid corridor will utilize US-built Gaza pier". Associated Press. March 13, 2024 – via Times of Israel. Cyprus' foreign minister says a US initiative to build a pier off Gaza for large-scale aid deliveries to the territory by sea will eventually be folded into the Cyprus-Gaza maritime corridor that's currently running. Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos says although the two initiatives are now separate, all aid reaching Gaza by sea will eventually have as its single departure point the Cypriot port of Larnaca.
^Joe Gould; Lara Seligman (March 15, 2024). "Democrats join Republicans in wanting more answers on Biden's Gaza pier – Sen. Richard Blumenthal says he has 'very serious questions about how the construction will be done, with the assurance of safety to our troops.'". Politico.