NEW: Biden to Announce 'Temporary Port' Construction in Gaza

President Joe Biden will announce a plan in his State of the Union address Thursday for the U.S. military to help establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast, increasing the flow of humanitarian aid for the beleaguered territory during the Israel-Hamas war, according to administration officials.

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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.”

Ed Morrissey

This sounds like a 'Black Hawk Down' disaster in the making. Even if it's technically possible to put a port in place without ever setting foot on the ground in Gaza, how would it operate? You'd still need security on the ground to ensure stable off-loading and distribution. The IDF could partner on it, but that would stretch their lines of communication and set them up as a target for terrorist attacks -- not to mention the problem of crowd control, which became acute last week and resulted in a fatal stampede and a terrorist attack on nearby IDF forces.

And if the IDF doesn't want to partner with the US on this project, who does that leave? Only Hamas at the moment. 

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