President Joe Biden will use Thursday night’s State of the Union address to announce that the U.S. is establishing a port to facilitate the flow of additional humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip by sea, administration officials said ahead of his remarks. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden will use Thursday night’s State of the Union address to announce that the U.S. is establishing a port to facilitate the flow of additional humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip by sea
  • Officials billed the new maritime corridor as part of the administration’s “sustained effort” to utilize land, air and sea to ramp up the amount of assistance reaching civilians in the Palestinian territory
  • The U.S. carried out its third round of aid deliveries through airdrops Thursday morning 
  • It comes as Biden is in the depths of trying to broker a six-week cease-fire in the war that would allow for the release of hostages still being held by Hamas

“Tonight the President will announce in his State of the Union address that he has directed the U.S. military to undertake an emergency mission to establish a port in Gaza, working in partnership with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners,” an administration official said Thursday. 

Officials billed the new maritime corridor – initially teased by Biden last week during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – as part of the administration’s “sustained effort” to utilize land, air and sea to ramp up the amount of assistance reaching civilians in the Palestinian territory. 

“We have long believed that land routes can be the most efficient, cost effective way to get assistance in, but we have decided, and the President has directed, that we look at all options – that we not wait for the Israelis and that we are pursuing every channel possible to get assistance into Gaza,” an official noted. “So we will do it by air, by sea, by land – however we can get the maximum amount in possible.” 

The new port, officials said, will allow for “hundreds” of additional truckloads of aid each day, but will take “a number of weeks to plan and execute.” 

The U.S. military will lead the effort initially but over time, the administration anticipates the port “transitioning to a commercially operated facility.”

The U.S., officials said, is not planning on the mission requiring U.S. boots on the ground. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense carried out its third round of aid deliveries through airdrops Thursday morning, officials also said. Biden announced the new effort to facilitate the flow of aid via air during his meeting with Meloni on Friday – one day before the U.S. carried out the first of such efforts. 

Thursday’s drop brings the total amount of aid delivered by air to 192 bundles containing more than 112,800 meals, an official said. More drops are planned for the coming days. 

In addition, Israel has agreed to a U.S. request to prepare a third crossing to allow additional aid to reach civilians in northern Gaza, officials announced. 

At the same time, administration officials pointed to the new port and airdrop effort to emphasize that the U.S. is “not waiting on the Israelis.”

“This is a moment for American leadership, and we are building a coalition of countries to address this urgent need,” an official told reporters. 

Biden has faced pressure from abroad and at home over his continued support of Israel as the civilian death toll in Gaza has risen and the humanitarian crisis has worsened amid the war. Recently, the president has taken to stressing the need for more assistance to reach Palestinians, asserting that current levels are not enough. 

“We must get more aid into Gaza. No excuses. None,” Biden told reporters on Tuesday when asked if he was pressuring Israel to help get more supplies to civilians. 

“The President will make clear again this evening that we all need to do more and that the United States is doing more and we are seeking to use every channel possible to get additional assistance into Gaza,” an official said of Biden’s speech Thursday night. 

And it comes as Biden is in the depths of trying to broker a six-week cease-fire in the war that would allow for the release of hostages still being held by Hamas. 

On Tuesday, the president warned the situation could be “very, very dangerous” if such a pause in fighting in not in place by Ramadan, the start of the Muslim holy month that often brings increased Israeli-Palestinian hostilities.

Biden told reporters that the fate of the deal is in the “hands of Hamas” after Israel agreed to a “rational offer” that was put on the table. 

Officials on Thursday’s call did not say whether they believe a deal will be in place by Ramadan in less than a week, but emphasized that “the path” to a deal “is there.”

Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday delivered what has been seen as some of the administration’s most forceful words on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and Israel’s role in facilitating the flow of aid into the territory. 

“People in Gaza are starving.  The conditions are inhumane.  And our common humanity compels us to act,” Harris said at the top of remarks in Selma on Sunday to mark the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” 

“And the Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid,” she added. “No excuses.”

In the same speech, she called for an “immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks.”