A top EU official visits Cyprus to inspect preparation to supply to Gaza by sea

A top European Union official is in Cyprus on Friday to inspect preparations to send desperately needed aid to war-ravaged Gaza by sea, just hours after President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. military will set up a temporary port off Gaza's Mediterranean coast to support deliveries.

Efforts to dramatically ramp up aid deliveries signaled growing frustration with Israel's conduct in the war in the United States and Europe.

Biden's announcement of the sea port plan underscored how the United States is having to go around Israel, its main Mideast ally and the top recipient of U.S. 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.

After months of warnings over the risk of famine in Gaza under Israel’s bombardment, offensives and siege, hospital doctors have reported 20 malnutrition-related deaths at two northern Gaza hospitals.

While reiterating his support for Israel, Biden used his State of the Union speech to reiterate demands that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow in more aid to Gaza.

“To the leadership of Israel, I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,” Biden declared before Congress. He also repeated calls for Israel to do more to protect civilians in the fighting, and to work toward Palestinian statehood as the only long-term solution to Israeli-Palestinian violence.

U.S.