CAIRO — President Joe Biden will announce a plan in his State of the Union address Thursday night for the U.S. military to help establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast aimed at increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into the beleaguered territory during the Israel-Hamas war, according to senior administration officials.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, said the operation will not require that American troops be on the ground to build the pier that is intended to allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential items.
The officials did not provide details about how the pier would be built. One noted that the U.S. military has “unique capabilities” and can do things from “just offshore.” They said it would likely take weeks before it was operational.
The move provides one more layer to the extraordinary dynamic that’s emerged as the United States has had to go around Israel, its main Mideast ally, and find ways to get aid into Gaza, including through airdrops.
Biden last week first raised the idea of establishing a sea-based corridor, saying the U.S. was working with allies on how it might provide assistance from the Mediterranean to those in Gaza.
American Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that he had briefed officials on such a maritime option. Also Thursday, the U.S. conducted a third…
