Jumblat mocks Biden’s ‘fictional’ Gaza pier proposal

Lebanon’s Druze leader, Walid Jumblat, has voiced strong criticism towards President Joe Biden’s approach to providing aid to Gaza amid the ongoing conflict. Jumblat conveyed his concerns through an English post on the X platform, stressing that delaying an immediate ceasefire would only continue the suffering and potential death of Gaza’s population due to starvation.

He argued that the efforts to establish temporary maritime solutions or airdrop limited food supplies are ineffective against the backdrop of continuous bombings in Gaza. This critique comes in the wake of President Biden’s directive for the U.S. military to establish a temporary port near Gaza. This initiative is part of a broader attempt by international forces to open a maritime path for delivering essential supplies to Palestinian civilians, who are facing dire circumstances due to the war between Hamas and Israel, coupled with Israeli-imposed land access restrictions.

The U.S. has attempted to mitigate the crisis by airdropping 36,000 meals into northern Gaza in collaboration with Jordan, amidst reports from the World Health Organization of children in northern Gaza dying from starvation. This region is home to approximately 300,000 Palestinians living without sufficient food or clean water. However, this strategy has been met with skepticism from humanitarian groups, who argue that these measures are insufficient to address the urgent needs of the population. The situation has also highlighted broader issues with the effectiveness of current aid delivery efforts in the conflict zone.