President

Joe

Biden will announce in his State of the Union address on Thursday a plan for the US military to help set up a temporary port on the Gaza coast, increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to the besieged area during the war between Israel and Hamas , government officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, said the operation would not require U.S. troops to be on site to build the pier intended to increase shipments of food, medicine and other essential make things possible.

Officials did not provide details on how the pier would be built. One noted that the U.S. military has unique capabilities and can do things “just offshore.”

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This move adds another layer to the extraordinary dynamic that has emerged as the United States has had to bypass Israel, its most important ally in the Middle East, and find ways to get aid into Gaza, including through airdrops .

Biden first floated the idea of ​​establishing a maritime corridor last week, saying the US was working with allies on how they could provide assistance from the sea to those in Gaza.

Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he had briefed officials on such a maritime option.

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On Thursday, the US also carried out a third airborne landing in the northern part of Gaza, where there is no Israeli presence. Kurilla said Central Command has provided options to increase the number of trucks bringing aid to those areas.

Five months of fighting between Israel and Hamas have left much of Hamas-run Gaza in ruins and led to a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. Many Palestinians, especially in the devastated north, are looking for food to survive.

Aid groups have said it has become virtually impossible to deliver supplies to most of Gaza due to the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of law and order.

Aamer Madhani writes for the Associated Press writer. AP writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.