The US is wrapping up a pier to bring aid to Gaza by sea. But danger and uncertainty lie ahead

US Military to Open Sea Route for Humanitarian Aid into Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the coming days, the U.S. military in the eastern Mediterranean is expected to jab one end of a hulking metal dock — the length of five U.S. football fields — into a beach in northern Gaza.

And that may be the end of the easy part for the Biden administration’s two-month-long, $320 million effort to open a sea route to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, with dangers and uncertainties ahead for aid delivery teams as fighting surges and the plight of starving Palestinians grows more dire.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life on Land
16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships for the Goals

Challenges and Uncertainties

• Relief groups are watching to see if Israeli officials will allow a freer flow of food and other supplies through this sea route than they have by land and follow through on pledges to protect aid workers.
• Protections for humanitarian workers have not improved and aid is piling up at Gaza’s border crossings, waiting for decisions by Israeli officials to distribute it.
• The consent of the government of Israel is crucial in allowing aid through its screening process and ensuring aid teams are safe to distribute it within Gaza.
• The U.S.-built pier and sea route are seen as a costly alternative to land crossings, which could bring in all the needed aid if Israeli officials allowed.

Israeli Response and Aid Distribution

Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Tuesday that the country had enabled the entrance of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza and would continue to do so. It repeated accusations that Hamas was disrupting aid distribution by hijacking and attacking convoys.

The Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday that it will keep acting in line with international law to distribute aid to Gaza. It also has previously said there are no limits on aid, it is trying to keep crossings open despite Hamas attacks and has blamed the U.N. for problems with distribution.

Famine and Aid Delivery

With food and aid in short supply in Gaza throughout the war, the head of the U.N. World Food Program and others say that famine has taken hold in northern Gaza and is spreading south.

Last month, truckloads of aid entering Gaza increased by 13%, but the daily average of trucks entering in April still was about half the average of 500 trucks a day that crossed before the war.

Israeli officials have denied permission to roughly two-thirds of aid missions that humanitarian groups have asked to run into northern Gaza, where starvation is the worst.

Threats to Humanitarian Operations

Now, Israel’s military operation in the southern city of Rafah to root out Hamas militants has closed one of Gaza’s two main border crossings, while a spate of Hamas attacks has crippled operations at the other crossing, cutting fuel and aid deliveries into Gaza.

Humanitarian operations are under threat throughout Gaza, with fuel cutoffs and surge in fighting affecting aid delivery.

Safety Concerns for Humanitarian Workers

Safety is another essential need for humanitarian workers — and that too is in short supply. Israel’s government has failed to make the promised changes to protect humanitarian missions within Gaza from Israeli attack.

Around the world, the process of humanitarian workers communicating their planned movements to combatants and getting clearance to move is known as “deconfliction.”

However, in Gaza, aid teams typically receive no word back from the civilian Israeli agency that oversees Palestinian territory, no assurance that their plans have been passed along to Israeli forces on the ground, and no assurances of safety.

Concerns Raised by Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch pointed to eight Israeli strikes on aid group lodgings and convoys whose locations had been passed along to Israeli authorities in advance. The rights group quoted an aid official as saying that without security for these teams, vitally needed goods would pile up undelivered regardless of piers or shipments.

Efforts by USAID and WFP

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will continue to press Israel to create the conditions to ensure the safety of humanitarian actors and activities, open additional land crossings, remove impediments to the delivery of humanitarian aid, and prevent the killings of humanitarian workers and civilians.

The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and other humanitarian groups will do the actual delivery of aid from the sea route. No U.S. troops will set foot in Gaza. The Israeli military is to handle security on shore, which has been a concern for the United Nations.

The WFP has emphasized the need for neutrality when delivering aid. The sea route can supplement land deliveries, but truck convoys are still the most effective means of delivering aid in terms of volume.

Conclusion

Even if deconfliction problems were solved, teams charged with delivering aid from the sea route would find Gaza a deadly place to operate. The war has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians.

“Even a functioning deconfliction system isn’t going to work in a free-fire zone,” said Scott Paul, an associate director of the Oxfam humanitarian organization.

AP reporters Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Samy Madgy in Cairo, and Sam Mednick in Jerusalem contributed.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 2.1: By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food all year round.
• SDG 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services, and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.
• SDG 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for SDG 2.1: Proportion of population facing moderate or severe food insecurity.
• Indicator for SDG 3.8: Proportion of population with access to essential health services.
• Indicator for SDG 16.3: Proportion of population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Fuente: apnews.com

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