Satellite photos show new port construction in the Gaza Strip for a US-led relief operation

JERUSALEM (AP) — Construction of a new port in the Gaza Strip ahead of a U.S. military-led operation to bring more desperately needed food and other aid to the besieged enclave as Israel’s war against Hamas continues, according to satellite in full swing. images analyzed Thursday by The Associated Press.

Based on images, construction appears to have moved quickly over the past two weeks, with some officials saying the port could be ready as soon as a week.

The port is located just southwest of Gaza City, which was once the territory’s most populous area before Israel’s ground offensive, pushing more than 1 million people south toward the city of Rafah on the Egyptian border. Its construction comes as Israel faces widespread international criticism over the slow flow of aid into the region, where the United Nations says at least a quarter of the population is on the brink of starvation.

However, according to the Israeli military, the site has already been the target of a militant mortar attack. An official from the militant Hamas group that has ruled Gaza since 2007 has warned that any foreign military presence at the pier would be targeted for attacks – potentially further complicating aid efforts.

The satellite photos, taken by Planet Labs PBC, show that heavy construction work at the site started more than two weeks ago. The area is just north of a road bisecting Gaza that the Israeli army built during the fighting.

A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes deliberations, said the port is “right at the end of the new path that the IDF has laid out.” The official used an acronym for the Israeli army.

Heavy trucks and machinery could be seen in a photo taken by Planet Labs a week ago, with the cleared area appearing even larger in a photo taken on Wednesday. A dirt berm separates the area from nearby buildings. Other details match a ground image of the auxiliary pier seen by the AP.

The port will likely have three zones: one controlled by the Israelis where aid will be dropped off from the pier, another where aid will be transferred, and a third where Palestinian drivers contracted by the UN will wait to pick up the aid. get it before they deliver it. to distribution points, the UN official said.

Still, the official said several sticking points still remain surrounding how the Israelis would handle port security. The military is reportedly trying to install remote-controlled weapons positions, which the UN opposes.

Israeli officials have told the AP that Israel will play a role in securing the pier and move some of the aid from the pier to shore, although the extent of the planned Israeli involvement remains unclear. Multiple Israeli government agencies did not respond to requests for comment on the port.

A top Cypriot government official, who spoke to the AP on the usual condition of anonymity, said the pier “will be ready by the end of next week and we will start (aid shipments) again.” The official did not specify when exactly the shipments will begin.

Navy officials confirmed to the AP what ship tracking sites show: The USNS Benavidez, the American cargo ship carrying much of the larger equipment to build the pier, is now off the coast of Gaza. Other army ships are there or sailing to that area.

Major concerns remain: the pier was attacked on Wednesday, the UN official said, as four senior UN officials visited the site. The army said mortar fire from Gaza militants forced officials to take shelter, but no one was killed or injured.

No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, Hamas’s senior political official, Khalil al-Hayya, has said that the group would consider the Israeli forces – or forces from any other country – stationed at the pier to guard it as “an occupying force and aggression ‘.

The port could be a game-changer as ramping up aid to Gaza through land crossings has proven challenging, with long truck backups waiting for Israeli inspections. Previous attempts to enter land by sea failed after an attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy carrying aid from a port to a warehouse in central Gaza killed seven aid workers.

Countries have even tried airdropping aid – a tactic that aid groups say is a last resort because it cannot deliver aid in large quantities and has also led to deaths.

Associated Press writers Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, and Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.