Plans gather pace for Gaza maritime aid corridor

The United States plans gathered pace on Friday to get aid by sea into Gaza, where the U.N. has repeatedly warned of famine and Israel has been accused of limiting aid as it battles Hamas militants.

In his annual State of the Union address to Congress, President Joe Biden said the U.S. military would "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."

Senior administration officials said this effort builds on an initiative proposed by Cyprus for a maritime aid corridor. In the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Friday, European Union chief Ursula Von der Leyen expressed hope the corridor could open this Sunday.

The United States and other countries have already been parachuting food and other assistance into Gaza but air or sea delivery is not the best way, said Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations aid coordinator for the Palestinian territory.

"The diversification of the supply routes via land" remains the optimal solution, Kaag said.

Biden, whose administration has been increasingly vocal about the war's consequences for civilians, delivered some of his strongest comments yet, as hopes dimmed for a new truce before Ramadan, the Muslim holy month which could begin Sunday depending on the lunar calendar.

"To the leadership of Israel I say this — humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip," said Biden, whose country provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel.

 Trucks queueing 

The war in Gaza began after Hamas's unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians,...