The satellite images, collected by Planet Labs PBC, reveal that heavy construction began more than two weeks ago at the site.
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This satellite picture taken by Planet Labs PBC shows the construction of a new aid port near Gaza City in the Gaza Strip on April 18, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
The construction of a new port in the Gaza Strip ahead of a US military-led effort to allegedly let aid into Gaza is quite advanced, according to satellite pictures examined Thursday by The Associated Press.
According to the photographs, the building has moved swiftly over the previous two weeks, and some authorities suggest the port might be finished in as little as a week.
The port is located directly southwest of Gaza City, which originally was the most populated location before the war drove over 1 million residents south to Rafah.
Its development comes as “Israel” faces considerable international condemnation over the blocking of aid into the region, where the United Nations estimates at least a quarter of the population is on the verge of famine.
The satellite images, collected by Planet Labs PBC, reveal that heavy construction has been underway for the past two weeks. The region is directly north of a route that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) built through Gaza amid the slaughter.
The port will most likely have three zones: one where the IOF receive dropped-off aid, another where the aid is transferred, and a third where Palestinian drivers contracted by the UN will wait to pick up the aid before delivering it to distribution points, according to a UN official.
The question remains: How can “Israel” be trusted with the task of allowing aid into the Strip when they are the very reason it has been blocked?
Meanwhile, while the US claims the pier is to allow the entry of aid into the Strip, UN experts have warned that it might be aimed at facilitating the Rafah invasion.
The US’ scheme to construct a large pier off the Gaza coast for humanitarian aid delivery has been criticized as a “smokescreen” to facilitate the potential Israeli invasion of the southern city of Rafah, The Independent reported Wednesday, citing UN officials.
UN officials caution that the dock will not be positioned near northern Gaza, where the famine risk is most acute, but rather at a location monitored by an Israeli occupation military checkpoint, according to The Independent., which is evident in an Israeli proposal to install remote-controlled guns since Israelis and Americans will be collaborating on “security” at the port.
The UN officials indicated that the Israeli occupation forces would then exploit the pier for their invasion of Rafah as an alternative to land crossings that would be shut down during the operation.
The IOF claim the area has already been subjected to a mortar attack Wednesday as 4 UN officials were at the site.
Hamas political bureau official Khalil al-Hayya has vowed that any forces, Israeli or from another country, would be considered “an occupying force and aggression.”
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) issued a warning last month against the US plan to establish a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza for “transporting aid to the sector.”
The movement emphasized that the US plan is “suspicious and dubious” and goes beyond the goal of aiding the Palestinian people, opening the door to executing other alarming objectives, such as forced displacement plans under humanitarian and other pretexts.
Funding a genocide behind humanitarian aid
Yesterday, US President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion bill of foreign aid to Ukraine, “Israel”, and Taiwan on a day that he called a “good day for world peace,” following the Senate’s passing of the measure in a 79-18 vote on Tuesday night.
After signing the bill, in his speech, Biden said, “It’s going to make America safer. It’s going to make the world safer,” adding, “It was a difficult path… It should have been easier and it should have gotten there sooner. But in the end, we did what America always does. We rose to the moment, came together, and we got it done.”
The bill includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine, $26.3 billion for “Israel” and controversially for humanitarian relief for civilians, and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region against China.
According to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2024, the war on the Gaza Strip resulted in the greatest food crisis ever recorded, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) research.
The whole Gaza population is classified as IPC Phase 3 (crisis) or worse, with 50% anticipated to be in a condition of disaster (IPC Phase 5), which occurs when people confront an acute scarcity of food and exhaustion of coping skills.
In early April, the US humanitarian envoy in Gaza, David Satterfield, affirmed that famine looms over all 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza.
During a briefing hosted by the American Jewish Committee, Satterfield stated that “this is not a point in debate. It is an established fact, which the United States, its experts, the international community, its experts assess and believe is real,” adding that the ongoing dehumanization of Palestinians cannot continue, regardless of the events of October 7 and its effects on settler society and the capturing of captives.
Famine threatens the 300,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza, he highlighted, as “Israel” deliberately prevents aid deliveries and intentionally starves civilians in the territory.
