Since the outbreak of the conflict on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, US President Joe Biden and his administration have continued to reveal unwavering help for Israel, main some critics to view Washington as a key participant within the battle.
However, a latest assertion by Biden on Friday launched a shocking improvement as he introduced plans to direct the US navy on an “emergency mission to establish a port in the Gaza Strip” to get humanitarian assist to the Palestinian enclave.
But observers see one other side to the floating port, linked to encouraging voluntary Palestinian migration to Europe and eliminating the position of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, primarily inserting Israel answerable for all Gaza crossings and ending any Palestinian sovereignty over them.
– ‘HIDDEN OBJECTIVES’
Hisham Khreisat, a Jordanian navy and strategic affairs professional, advised Anadolu that “the floating port off the shores of Gaza is a humanitarian facade hiding voluntary migration to Europe.”
“This military tactical port will receive Israeli approval because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been seeking this idea since the beginning of the war, aiming for the voluntary displacement of Gazans and their flee to Europe,” he added.
He thought-about the thought of creating the port “not new,” stating that it’s “an old subject raised 10 years ago.”
“But Avigdor Lieberman (leader of the far-right ‘Israel Our Home’ party) failed the idea when he was the defense minister at the time, and Minister of Transportation Israel Katz then,” he added.
The professional continued: “Katz re-proposed the idea again, reaching an agreement from Cyprus and Greece.”
He defined that “a port in Cyprus, paid for by the US, will be allocated so that it reaches the site of the American port in Gaza’s Khan Younis beach.”
Khreisat emphasised that “the crucial thing is that all ships sending humanitarian aid will not go directly to the American port in Gaza but will go to the Ashdod port to be checked, then sent under Israeli navy control and drones to the Palestinian territory.”
“The US military will remain at sea and will supervise the port because Gaza is considered a hostile environment,” he stated.
“The ships from the Cyprus port to Ashdod will be under the control of the Israeli Navy and satellites,” Khreisat elaborated.
– IMMEDIATE AND FUTURE CONCERNS
The Jordanian professional stated he believes that “Biden is very concerned about the consequences of the Israeli army’s invasion of Rafah and the failure to end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, which will reflect on the election results in the US.”
“Therefore, he (Biden) will rush to build the port,” he continued, noting that “there will be no deployment of US forces in Gaza, but there will be international agencies tasked with overseeing the delivery of aid.”
He added: “The aid will be shipped from Larnaca Airport in (Southern) Cyprus, which is the main relief center.”
Khreisat confirmed that “Israel will agree to the port for two reasons: facilitating the prisoner exchange deal and the ground attack on Rafah without provoking Washington.”
He concluded that “the Rafah crossing will undoubtedly be out of service because Israel does not trust it and considers it the main entry point for Hamas weapons.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu claims {that a} Rafah City assault is essential to victory and that Palestinian resistance teams purchase arms by smuggling by Egypt.
Rafah crossing is essential for humanitarian assist entry, as Israel’s restrictions threaten famine in northern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s deliberate aggression on Rafah, a final refuge for the 1.4 million displaced individuals, has raised regional and worldwide considerations.
Israel has waged a retaliatory offensive on Gaza since a cross-border assault by Hamas on Oct. 7. The offensive has killed practically 31,000 Palestinians and injured over 72,500 others amid mass destruction and shortages of requirements.
Tel Aviv has additionally imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its inhabitants, notably residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of hunger.
About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught amid acute shortages of meals, clear water, and medication, whereas 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been broken or destroyed, in accordance with the UN.
Israel is accused of genocide on the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to cease genocidal acts and take measures to ensure that humanitarian help is supplied to civilians in Gaza.
Source: www.anews.com.tr