A U.S. military ship departed from Virginia on Saturday for the Middle East to build a port off Gaza‘s coast in the Mediterranean Sea to surge humanitarian aid into the strip.

The U.S. Army Vessel (USAV) General Frank S. Besson (LSV-1) from the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, departed from Joint Base Langley-Estis, Virginia “less than 36 hours after” President Joe Biden announced during his Thursday night State of the Union address that he directed the military to build the port, according to U.S. Central Command.

This ship is a “logistics support vessel” that is “carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies,” CENTCOM said.

It will take up to about two months to construct the temporary port, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters on Friday. It will likely take more than 1,000 U.S. troops to build it.

Once it’s constructed, large vessels carrying aid will approach a floating pier that’s offshore. The aid will then be offloaded and put on Navy support vessels — known as logistics support vessels (LSVs) — to go the rest of the way to a causeway, where the aid will then be brought ashore.

Biden’s decision to have the U.S. military build a port in Gaza comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis in the enclave. International aid organizations have warned about the possibility of famine, starvation, and disease. The president called on Israel to allow more aid to get into Gaza, while Israeli officials supported his pier decision.

Biden urged Israel to “do its part” by allowing “more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the crossfire” during his address to Congress, and he added, “To the leadership of Israel, I say this. Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.”

The port should enable the distribution of up to two million meals daily, and the transports ashore could be operational 24 hours a day.

U.S. officials have noted that the most efficient and cost-effective way to get aid into Gaza is by land via Israel.

Ryder maintained that U.S. troops would not be on the ground in Gaza. They will be partnering with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations on the distribution of aid within the strip. There are still issues getting aid to the civilian populations that most desperately need it.

“The problem has multiple routes,” a senior administration official told reporters last weekend. “But essentially what has gone on is: With the removal of police from the protective duties, U.N. and other convoys, Emirati, Jordanian, Palestine Red Crescent, lawlessness, which was always a problem in the background, has now moved to a very different level.  This is a product of, if you will, commercialization of the assistance; criminal gangs are taking it, looting it, reselling it.  They’ve monetized humanitarian assistance. 

The U.S. is also airdropping aid into the strip.

The U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian governments have spent months attempting to negotiate a temporary or permanent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the governing body of Gaza, which is also a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that has goals of eradicating the state of Israel.

Biden’s administration has sought to get both sides to agree to a six-week temporary ceasefire deal that includes a surge of humanitarian aid in exchange for the release of the more than one hundred hostages who have been under Hamas’s control since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that prompted the current iteration of the conflict.

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U.S. officials have indicated that Israel has agreed to those contours but have said Hamas has not, though Hamas contends that Israel is the party holding up a deal.

They sought to get a deal in place by Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that begins on Sunday night. There are concerns that violence between Arabs and Jews could escalate in Jerusalem at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.