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In State of the Union address, US president tells Israeli leadership protecting civilians in Gaza ‘has to be a priority’Full report: Biden announces US will build pier for aid on Gaza shore‘Who is going to distribute it?’: the key flaw in US’s planA top EU official is in Cyprus to inspect preparations to send desperately needed aid to Gaza by sea, just hours after US president Joe Biden announced that the US military will set up a temporary port off Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to support deliveries, reports the Associated Press (AP).Biden’s announcement of the seaport plan underscored how the US is having to go around Israel, its main Middle East ally and the top recipient of US military aid, to get aid into Gaza, including through airdrops that started last week. Israel accuses Hamas of commandeering some aid deliveries.Efforts to set up a sea route for aid deliveries come amid mounting alarm over the spread of hunger among Gaza’s 2.3 million people. Hunger is most acute in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by Israeli forces for months and suffered long cutoffs of food supply deliveries.US officials said it will probably be weeks before the Gaza pier is operational, say the AP.Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s powerful executive arm, arrived in Cyprus late on Thursday to inspect facilities at the port of Larnaca, where aid ships are expected to depart for Gaza.In November, Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides offered the use of the port, which is a 230 mile (370 km) journey from Gaza.It is unclear when the first ship will set sail, report the AP, but it is believed it could happen as early as Sunday, the expected start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.According to the AP, a ship belonging to Spain’s Open Arms NGO is moored at Larnaca waiting for permission to deliver food aid from World Central Kitchen, a US charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.At least 30,878 Palestinians have been killed and 72,402 have been injured since 7 October in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement on Friday. Continue reading...