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How the U.S. Humanitarian Pier in Gaza Will Work

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How the U.S. Humanitarian Pier in Gaza Will Work

A humanitarian pier the U.S. military will bring to the Gaza Strip is currently being assembled and is expected to be ready to receive initial shipments of food and other aid early next month, according to military officials. The effort to deliver aid to the enclave through a maritime corridor, which was announced in March, will involve an elaborate, multistep process.

A thousand American soldiers and sailors will be involved in the pier project, a senior military official said in a Pentagon call with reporters on Thursday. The pier will initially enable the transfer of about 90 truckloads of aid per day, the official said, and will eventually ramp up to 150 truckloads per day at full capacity.

U.S. authorities have said the pier is intended to supplement, not replace, existing aid deliveries over land. U.N. data indicates that land-based deliveries have risen slightly in recent weeks but still fall far short of vast need in the enclave. Dozens of Gazans have died from causes related to malnutrition and dehydration, and the United Nations’ World Food Program has said half of Gaza’s population of 2.2 million is starving.

Once aid reaches the shore, relief organizations that will distribute it within Gaza will face familiar dangers and obstacles amid ongoing Israeli bombardment.

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Aid, primarily food, will be procured from countries around the world.

A majority of the aid will be food collected from several countries and transported to the Larnaca port in Cyprus.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is working closely with the military to coordinate plans for the pier, said some of the items that would come through the maritime corridor would include nutrient-dense food bars, sourced from Dubai; foods intended to treat severe malnutrition in children, sourced from Kenya; and relief supplies, including hygiene kits, sourced from Europe.

Military officials have said other countries and organizations will also contribute food and money.

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Shipments will be inspected in Cyprus under Israeli oversight.

At the Larnaca port, Israeli representatives will be present as Cypriot authorities inspect items, according to an Israeli official with knowledge of the inspection plans.

The official said the standards for inspection would be the same as those at the land crossings into Gaza. Aid officials have said those inspections are exhaustive and sometimes arbitrary.

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World Central Kitchen, a disaster relief nonprofit, has tested the maritime corridor twice before at a smaller scale in March. The loading, scanning and inspection process for those two ships took between two and three days each, according to Juan Camilo Jimenez Garces, a regional manager for the organization. The first ship, a partnership with the Spanish nonprofit Open Arms, carried about 200 tons of aid, while the second carried more than 300 tons.

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The sea journey will take at least 15 hours.

The roughly 250-mile journey from Cyprus to Gaza normally takes about 15 hours, or a full day of travel, but it could take up to a couple of days depending on the weight of the cargo and the type of vessel. For example, the Open Arms ship, which towed its cargo on a separate platform instead of carrying it onboard, made the journey in about three days.

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Ships can also be delayed because of unfavorable weather conditions. That was one factor that held up the second World Central Kitchen ship, Jennifer, for about two weeks at Larnaca after it was scheduled to depart.

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Aid will be shuttled from a floating platform near Gaza to a pier anchored to land.

Gaza has no international seaport; Israel has for decades prevented the construction of one. Because waters near the shore are too shallow for large vessels to approach the humanitarian pier directly, the United States is also building a floating platform two miles off the coast, where ships carrying aid will first offload their cargo.

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Smaller Army vessels, known as L.C.U.s (for “landing craft utility”) and L.S.V.s (for “logistics support vessels”), will transport the aid in batches from the platform to the pier.

Note: Distances are not to scale.

The New York Times

At least 14 U.S. ships are involved in the building and operation of the pier, according to a military official — some carrying necessary heavy machinery and equipment. U.S. service members will build the pier at sea, using modular units eight feet wide and 20 or 40 feet long, and a long ferry will drag it to shore. It will then be anchored by Israeli forces on the shore in northern Gaza to ensure there are no U.S. boots on the ground.

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Humanitarian aid officials involved in receiving and distributing the aid have pushed to keep their engagement with the Israeli military as limited as possible.

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Aid will have to be taken into Gaza by truck, but safe distribution remains a challenge.

The World Food Program will help distribute aid inside Gaza after it arrives at the pier, the U.S. Agency for International Development said last week.

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Trucks coordinated by aid groups will transport aid from a secure area near the pier to U.N. warehouses, of which there are more than 20 across Gaza, and then eventually to hundreds of community kitchens, shelters, smaller warehouses and other distribution points throughout the region.

A majority of the distribution points are in southern Gaza, where most of the population has been forced to evacuate, but demographers estimate that several hundred thousand people remain in the northern part of the enclave, where famine is imminent.

A small number of routes are available to the distribution trucks, because the Israeli military has limited road access and Israeli airstrikes have turned much of the landscape to rubble. As usual, the convoys will need to coordinate their movements closely with the Israeli military.

Humanitarian road access in Gaza

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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Note: Road accessibility based on a map released by OCHA on April 24.

The New York Times

Aid officials have emphasized that the most efficient method of delivering aid into Gaza remains through land routes, and they have expressed concern that the pier might deflect attention from efforts to increase the amount of aid delivered over land.

Several previous attempts at delivering aid to Gazans have ended in deadly tragedy. This month, Israel struck a convoy belonging to World Central Kitchen, killing seven of the group’s aid workers. Israel has also bombed an aid warehouse on at least one occasion, a strike it said was targeted to kill a Hamas commander.

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Aid experts say the hunger crisis in Gaza is human-made, citing the decades-long blockade of the territory by Israel and backed by Egypt, Israel’s near-complete siege after Oct. 7 and its tight restrictions on aid-truck entry ever since. The U.N. has said that Israel’s restrictions of aid, destruction of infrastructure and displacement of Gazans may amount to the use of starvation as a war tactic.

Israel has pushed back, and its officials have blamed U.N. aid agencies for failing to distribute aid effectively. They have also said that Hamas, which rules Gaza and has been deemed a terrorist organization, has been systematically seizing aid. David Satterfield, the U.S. special envoy for humanitarian aid, said in February that Israel had not brought forward specific evidence of theft or diversion of U.N.-delivered aid.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis has continued to grow more dire. Many Gazans have died seeking aid, including more than 100 who were killed while trying to get food from an aid convoy, according to Gazan health officials, and more than a dozen who drowned while retrieving airdropped aid that had fallen into the sea.

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Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung Crime Thriller ‘Made in Korea’ Sets Disney+ Debut

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Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung Crime Thriller ‘Made in Korea’ Sets Disney+ Debut

Hyun Bin and Jung Woo-sung go head-to-head in “Made in Korea,” a 1970s crime noir that launches Dec. 24 on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere.

The series stars Hyun Bin (“Crash Landing on You,” “Confidential Assignment”) as Baek Kitae, an ambitious KCIA agent in 1970s South Korea who leads a dangerous double life. By day, he works as a government operative, while by night he runs an illegal operation, using his underworld connections to consolidate power, protect his brother and generate substantial revenue for the agency.

Jung Woo-sung (“Tell Me That You Love Me,” “12.12: The Day”) co-stars as Jang Geonyoung, an incorruptible prosecutor determined to bring Kitae down. Woo Dohwan (“Bloodhounds,” “Mr. Plankton”) plays Kitae’s brother Baek Kihyun.

The series is written by Park Eunkyo (“Mother,” “A Normal Family,” “The Silent Sea”) and Park Joonseok (“A Normal Family”), directed by Woo Minho (“The Man Standing Next,” “Inside Men,” “Harbin”), and produced by Hive Media Corp (“Inside Men,” “The Man Standing Next,” “12.12: The Day”).

Following the two-episode premiere, “Made in Korea” will release two additional episodes on Dec. 31, with the final two episodes rolling out weekly through Jan. 14. The series has already been renewed for a second season, which is currently in production.

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The thriller joins Disney+’s expanding slate of Korean drama content that launched in 2025, including “Unmasked,” “Nine Puzzles,” “Hyper Knife,” “Low Life,” “The Murky Stream” and “Tempest.”

The streamer has additional Korean series slated for 2026, including “Gold Land” starring Park Boyoung, “Perfect Crown” starring IU and Byeon Wooseok, and the return of “A Shop for Killers” for a second season with Lee Dongwook and Kim Hyejun.

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Pope Leo XIV says he’s ‘very disappointed’ after Illinois approves assisted suicide law

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Pope Leo XIV says he’s ‘very disappointed’ after Illinois approves assisted suicide law

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Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he was “very disappointed” after his home state of Illinois approved a law allowing medically assisted suicide.

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Leo, who grew up in Chicago, said he had spoken “explicitly” with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker while the legislation was on his desk and urged him not to sign the bill into law, saying the measure undermines respect for human life from “the very beginning to the very end.”

“Unfortunately, for different reasons, he decided to sign that bill,” Leo told reporters outside Rome. “I am very disappointed about that.”

The Medical Aid in Dying Act, also referred to as “Deb’s Law,” was signed into law by Pritzker on Dec. 12 and allows eligible terminally ill adult patients to obtain life-ending medication after consultation with their doctors.

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Pope Leo XIV met with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on Nov. 19 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

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The measure was named after Deb Robertson, a lifelong Illinois resident with a rare terminal illness who had pushed for the bill’s approval.

The law takes effect in September 2026, giving participating healthcare providers and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) time to implement required processes and protections.

Leo said Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich also urged Pritzker not to sign the bill, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

BISHOPS, CATHOLIC GROUPS SLAM CARDINAL CUPICH’S PLAN TO HONOR PRO-ABORTION SEN DICK DURBIN: ‘GREAT SCANDAL’

Pope Leo XIV said he was very disappointed” that Illinois passed a law allowing medically assisted suicide. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)

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“I would invite all people, especially in these Christmas days, to reflect upon the nature of human life, the goodness of human life,” Leo said. “God became human like us to show us what it means really to live human life, and I hope and pray that the respect for life will once again grow in all moments of human existence, from conception to natural death.”

The state’s six Catholic dioceses have also criticized Pritzker’s decision to sign the bill, saying it puts Illinois “on a dangerous and heartbreaking path.”

Illinois joins a growing list of states allowing medically assisted suicide. Eleven other states and the District of Columbia allow medically assisted suicide, according to the advocacy group, Death with Dignity, and seven other states are considering allowing it.

After signing the bill, Pritzker said the legislation would allow patients with terminal illnesses to “avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives,” and said it would be “thoughtfully implemented” to guide physicians and patients through deeply personal decisions.

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act on Dec. 12, allowing eligible terminally ill adult patients to obtain life-ending medication after consultation with their doctors. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Pritzker’s office for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Europeans show solidarity with Denmark after Trump’s Greenland threat

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Europeans show solidarity with Denmark after Trump’s Greenland threat

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Exactly one year after Donald Trump first announced his intention to integrate Greenland into US territory on grounds of “national protection”, he’s back for more.

The US president has appointed Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, as the new US special envoy for Greenland with the stated objective of “integrating Greenland into the United States” and repeated the US needs the territory for its national security.

His comments have been taken seriously by EU heads of state and government, who are presenting a united front against what they describe as American expansionist ambitions towards the autonomous territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

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France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, both responded to the announcement by reaffirming their support for the integrity of Denmark’s territory.

“Greenland belongs to its people. Denmark stands as its guarantor. I join my voice to that of Europeans in expressing our full solidarity.”

On Tuesday, Trump told reporters the United States “needs Greenland for national security, not for minerals or oil, but national security. And if you take a look at Greenland, there are Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. So, we need this for protection.”

He also chastised Denmark for what he described neglecting the territory, “they have spent no money, they have no military protection, they say Denmark arrived there 300 years ago with boats – we were there with boats too, I’m sure. We’ll have to work it all out.”

Adding to the European voices pushing back on the US ambitions and the criticism of Denmark, Commission Ursula von der Leyen insisted that “territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law”. Despite the tone coming out of Washington, she appeared to refer to the US as an ally in arctic security.

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez echoed those remarks. “Respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity is central to the EU and to all nations of the world,” he wrote on X. “Security in the Arctic is a priority in which we seek to work with allies and partners.”

The US and Denmark are part of NATO, which is supposed to ensure mutual defence in the event of aggression against one of its members. That principle has never been tested by conflict between members of the alliance if one were to seize territory from another.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has so far remained silent on the issue. During a press conference with Trump in the White House’s Oval Office in March, he also chose not to comment after a question from a journalist.

“When it comes to Greenland, if it joins the US or not, I will leave that outside of me in this discussion because I don’t want to drag NATO into that,” he said.

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