LONDON– British troops could be tasked with delivering aid to Gaza from an offshore dock the US military is now building, the BBC reported on Saturday. UK government officials declined to comment on the report.
According to the BBC, the British government is considering deploying troops to drive the trucks that will transport aid from the dock along a floating causeway to the coast. No decision has been made and the proposal has not yet reached Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the BBC reported, citing unnamed government sources.
The report comes after a senior U.S. military official said Thursday that there would be no U.S. “boots” on the ground and that another nation would provide the personnel to drive the delivery trucks to the coast. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public, declined to identify the third party.
Britain is already providing logistical support for the construction of the dock, including a Royal Navy ship that will house hundreds of American soldiers and sailors working on the project.
In addition, British military planners have been embedded at US Central Command in Florida and Cyprus, where aid will be vetted before being sent to Gaza, for several weeks, the UK Ministry of Defense said on Friday.
The UK Hydrographic Office has also shared analysis of the Gaza coast with the United States to assist in the construction of the dock.
“It is essential that we establish more routes for vital humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza, and the UK continues to play a leading role in providing support in coordination with the US and our international allies and partners,” said Defense Secretary Grant Shapps. he said in a statement.
The development of the port and dock in Gaza comes as Israel faces widespread international criticism over the slow trickle of aid to the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations says at least a quarter of the population is on the brink of famine.
The war between Israel and Hamas began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 1. 7, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 people hostage. Israel says militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others. Since then, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s air and ground offensive, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, about two-thirds of them children and women.
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