MEZIESBLOG

As the humanitarian situation worsens in Gaza and pressure builds for more aid to enter the enclave, the British foreign secretary has urged Israel to “confirm that they’ll open the port at Ashdod”. 

However, Ashdod is in Israel – around 20 miles north of Gaza – so even if aid was to flow into that port, it would still be subject to the Israeli security checks and delays before entering Gaza.  There is no shortage of international commitment to provide aid, and there is a clear need, but getting the aid across the border into Gaza has proved problematic at best.

Meanwhile, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has announced that a ship carrying humanitarian aid will head to Gaza today. The ship, belonging to Spain’s Open Arms charity, will make a pilot voyage to test the recently announced maritime corridor.

The Open Arms ship arrived in Cyprus three weeks ago and is ready to open the proposed Cyprus Humanitarian Aid Corridor.  The ship can carry 200 pallets of supplies and is capable of making the return journey from Cyprus (a 400-mile round trip) on a daily basis. The ship has a 5m draft, and could be small enough to operate via the Gaza fishing port, which will make the logistics of unloading the vessel significantly simpler. However, it is not clear at this stage who will provide the security required to ensure the aid is distributed in an orderly manner, and to those who need it most.

Separately, Joe Biden used his State of the Union Address to announce the US would help build a port in Gaza to deliver aid to people starving in the enclave. Aid can be transported in bulk via large ships, but needs a deep-water port to enable the aid to be offloaded. The only Gaza port is not suitable as it is too shallow, but a temporary structure that enables ships to dock off-shore in deep water, and offload onto either smaller vessels or vehicles, might offer a workable option.  

The military has experience of building temporary “pontoon” structures – the most famous was the Mulberry pontoon that was used on D-Day in the Second World War.  However, the US-based capability will take some time to prepare and transport – the easternmost US port is seven days sailing away from the region – so a temporary harbour will take weeks, not days, before it is ready to use.

There is a mass of details still to be worked through. Mindful of the scenes of chaos on the beaches of Gaza when the airdrops have been conducted, a robust security plan will need to be developed to ensure an orderly distribution of aid and to protect those involved in the delivery operation. The US has made clear it has no intention of putting “boots on the ground”, and the IDF does not have a good track record of supervising the safe delivery of aid in Gaza.  

What is particularly interesting about this flurry of international effort to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is – why now?  The recent series of airdrops have demonstrated resolve, but it is a very inefficient way to distribute aid (each plane carries around one truck load of aid, and the need is 500 trucks a day). It’s also dangerous, not only for the crews but also for those on the ground. Indeed, reports suggest that two Palestinians have been killed to date by pallets falling from the skies.

What the international effort does demonstrate is growing frustration at Israel’s apparent reluctance to address the humanitarian crisis, with airdrops and maritime aid corridors bypassing Israeli control. With the 10 March deadline for the IDF offensive into Rafah fast approaching, many aid agencies are suggesting that with 1.3 million refugees crammed into the region, any ground offensive risks being a “bloodbath”.  

Also, protesters in Tel Aviv are increasingly concerned that more needs to be done to secure the release of the remaining hostages, and Benny Gantz has only recently returned from an unsanctioned visit to meet US and UK political leaders to discuss the crisis in Gaza – all of this undermines Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position.

Perhaps this latest international initiative to provide humanitarian support to the Palestinians trapped in Gaza will add further pressure on Netanyahu to reconsider his war aims, to pursue a negotiated ceasefire, free the hostages, and bring this brutal war to an end. 

Maybe that is more hope than expectation at this stage, but with every passing day, Mr Netanyahu is becoming increasingly isolated.