The US army and its partners plan to set up a temporary harbour on the coast of the devastated Gaza Strip to provide additional aid to civilians, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday.
"Tonight, I'm directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters," Biden said in his State of the Union address in Washington.
"This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day," Biden said, stressing that "no US boots will be on the ground."
Biden also called on Israel to "allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren't caught in the cross fire."
"Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip," the US leader said. "Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority."
The plans come amid Washington's concerns that the aid flowing into Gaza is "nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough," a senior US government representative said before the speech.
"We look forward to working with our close partners and allies in Europe, the Middle East and beyond to build a coalition of countries that will contribute capabilities and funding for this initiative," the official said.
Deliveries are initially to be made via Cyprus, facilitated by the US military and a coalition of partners and allies, in a project expected to take several weeks to realize.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, with hunger growing among the population ever since fighting broke out between Israel and the Palestinian extremist Hamas movement following the October 7 massacre.
Hamas and other militant groups from Gaza killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, when they attacked southern Israel on October 7, kidnapping some 240 more.
Israel responded with relentless bombardment of Gaza and launched a ground operation to eliminate Hamas.
So far more than 30,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the fighting, according to the Hamas-run authorities there.
Israel said more aid is now reaching the strip than before the war began.
"In the past two weeks, an average of 102 food shipments have arrived in the Gaza Strip every day. That is almost 50% more than before Hamas started the war on October 7," government spokesperson Eylon Levy said.
There was a "flood of false reports" that Israel was restricting the amount of aid deliveries, he said. "There are no restrictions. I repeat: none."
Israel is even encouraging donor states to send as much food, water, medicine and shelter equipment as they want, he said on Wednesday.
But a UN spokesman said it is not enough to count the number of lorries crossing border posts as the loads had to be transferred to smaller lorries then distributed in Gaza.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs meanwhile said only half of the 224 aid convoys planned for February reached the areas for which they were intended, and that Israeli support was lacking for the remaining deliveries.
US Vice President Kamala Harris called on the Israeli government on Sunday to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip, to open more border crossings and not to impose unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid.
But despite the increasingly catastrophic humanitarian situation in the strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is proceeding with a massive ground offensive in Gaza.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said that the army would "continue to act against all Hamas battalions in the entire Gaza Strip - and that includes Rafah, Hamas' last stronghold," according to his office.
"Whoever tells us not to operate in Rafah is telling us to lose the war," he added, amid growing international criticism of the planned assault on the Gaza Strip's southern-most city.
Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah, leading to intense crowding in the city on the border with Egypt. There are fears that any attacks could result in mass civilian casualties. Israel has said it will bring civilians to safety before any offensive.
Netanyahu previously said there were still four Hamas battalions in Rafah, which need to be defeated in order to achieve the elimination of Hamas, the Israeli government'S declared objective.
Qatar, Egypt and the US have been trying to broker a new ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel in Gaza for weeks, in a deal which should also facilitate the release of Israeli hostages.
However, teams from Hamas and mediators left Cairo without reaching a ceasefire deal, sources said earlier on Thursday.
"The consultations continue between all parties to reach a truce before the start of the Ramadan month," the source added, referring to the Islamic holy month expected to begin on March 10 depending on the sighting of the new moon.
Delegations from Egypt, Qatar and the US participated in the Cairo round of negotiations that started at the weekend. Israel stayed away from the talks.
Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera reported that Israel had refused Hamas' demands for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip and the unconditional return of the people displaced by the fighting in the coastal area.
The mediators in Cairo "unsuccessfully" tried to bridge the gap between Hamas and Israel, the broadcaster quoted unidentified sources as saying.
