It's possible that UK military will be stationed in Gaza to assist with relief delivery

It's possible that UK military will be stationed in Gaza to assist with relief delivery

According to information obtained by the BBC, British soldiers may be stationed in Gaza to assist in delivering assistance via a new waterway.

An unidentified "third party" would transport vehicles via a floating bridge onto the beach, according to US statements, and no American soldiers would land there.

When the humanitarian corridor opens next month, the UK is reportedly thinking about giving British soldiers this role.

The prime minister had not yet addressed the matter, according to Whitehall insiders, and no decision had been taken.

Both the Israeli army and the Ministry of Defense (MoD) refused to comment.

Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that the UK continues to play "a leading role in the delivery of support in coordination with the US and other international allies." Britain has been actively engaged in the preparation of the seaborne humanitarian mission.

Military strategists referred to British personnel as "wet boots" for their potential involvement, which would include driving trucks from landing boats onto the makeshift causeway and delivering assistance to a safe distribution place onshore.

The danger of assault by Hamas and other armed organizations might be greater for British soldiers, notwithstanding the enormous effort that would be undertaken to safeguard coalition personnel both onshore and offshore.

On Wednesday, mortars fell close to the designated distribution zone, forcing a United Nations team to seek shelter.

US defense authorities verified that construction of a massive floating pier in the eastern Mediterranean has started aboard an American army ship.

Large ships from Cyprus would transport aid there, where it would then be loaded into trucks and smaller landing boats. "Several hundred meters long" and securely anchored into the sand, that was the stated length of the floating causeway.

They expressed anticipation that the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) operation, a new maritime route, would eventually be able to supply up to 150 trucks per day.

IDF promises to safeguard maritime assistance

The goal is to supplement relief supplies by land that are still inadequate to fulfill the demand, not to replace them. Currently, 220 assistance trucks arrive in Gaza by road each day on average.

According to their statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would improve the entrance of humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip by providing "security and logistics support for the JLOTS initiative."

The Israeli military, which has been practicing with US troops further north on the Israeli shore, will be in charge of securing the floating causeway to the beach.

A senior US military source told reporters at a briefing that hundreds of US troops and sailors would sleep at sea aboard the UK navy vessel RFA Cardigan Bay as there would not be American boots on the land.

He also made it plain that a "significant partner" would fulfill the duty of bringing the assistance ashore rather than US Marines. He affirmed that this would not be a private military corporation, but rather a different country.

The US military officer said, "We have a third party who will be driving the trucks down the pier." "Let me emphasize that there won't be any US military personnel there. Thus, such vehicles are being driven by a third party.

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Journalists questioned him, but he would not identify the third person.

"Do we put wet boots on the beach, do we drive trucks onto the pier?" was the topic of discussion, according to a UK source, but nothing had been resolved.

Regarding the idea that UK military would drive trucks ashore, the MoD refrained from commenting. However, Mr. Shapps said that the RFA Cardigan Bay crew was essential to the UK's involvement and added, "It is critical we establish more routes for vital humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza."

The US operations headquarters in Tampa, Florida, as well as Cyprus, he added, had been hosting specialized British military planning teams for a few weeks in order to assist in creating the safest and most efficient sea path.

In order to build the pier, US planners have also received study of the Gazan coast from the UK Hydrographic Office.

After more than six months of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, the southern city of Rafah is home to more than half of the region's 2.2 million inhabitants.

The UN has issued a humanitarian crisis alert, and Israel has been under fire from throughout the world for restricting the quantity of supplies that may go to people by land.

ActionAid's director of humanitarian policy, Ziad Issa, said on BBC Radio 4's Today program: "Any way to deliver aid to Gaza is welcome and will help a bit, although the problem with this way to distribute aid is it's going to take time to arrive and there are lots of logistical uncertainties about it."

He said that allowing delivery trucks to enter Gaza via land borders would be more effective. Aid workers are urging Israel to permanently open a land border at Erez, since trucks "loaded with tonnes of medical supplies, with food" are now waiting to enter Gaza but are being turned away by Israeli authorities, Mr. Issa said.

Since the conflict started on October 7, more than 34,000 people have died in Gaza, according to the health ministry operated by Hamas.

According to Israeli counts, the IDF began the attack after over 1,200 Israelis and foreigners—mostly civilians—were slain and 253 others were taken as prisoners back to Gaza.