Gaza - Israel Conflict ~ Naval Aspects

[Pelican]

U.S. Still Developing Gaza Pier Details as Crews Work to Prepare Components

ABOARD MOTOR VESSEL ROY A. BENAVIDEZ – Two weeks after President Joe Biden ordered the Pentagon to build a pier to ferry humanitarian aid to the war-torn residents of Gaza, the steel chunks that will make up the promised lifeline have been coming together in Newport News, Va.

Army, Navy and civilian stevedores are now massed at the Port of Virginia’s Newport News Marine Terminal working 24 hours a day. They are loading the pieces of the modular causeway and other equipment that will build the pier to Gaza and the floating dock two miles offshore. Under the current plan, the cargo ships will drop off aid at offshore to be ferried to the pier by U.S. Army watercraft, U.S. Navy Capt. Jamie Murdock, commodore of Military Sealift Command Atlantic, told reporters on Friday.

Brian Carroll and the ship’s chief engineer were on vacation when they got the call to ready MV Roy A. Benavidez to sail. Formerly a Navy supply ship, the 35,000-tom roll-on/roll-off cargo ship was transferred to the Maritime Administration in 2022 to join the national ready reserve fleet. The Bob Hope-class cargo ship has an internal cargo deck with the storage space of about two-and-a-half Super Wal-Marts and will ferry the pier parts from Newport News to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Last week the Army started moving the causeway pieces 18 miles down the James River from Joint Base Langley Fort Eustis, Va., to nestle against the starboard side of the massive cargo ship built for hauling tanks around the world. A pair of warping tugs pushed the Army’s modular causeway system down the river. The tugs resemble the pieced of the causeway with a tollbooth perched on top.

Continues, including photos, at - https://news.usni.org/2024/03/18/u-s-st ... -assembled

[Pelican]

US built Gaza pier risks attack warns analyst

Earlier in March, US President Joe Biden announced plans for the US military to build a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in order to deliver humanitarian assistance to the residents of the Gaza Strip.
Officials said that what amounts to a floating port will be built from ships and then moved to the shore.
A US military ship, the General Frank S Besson, plus three others are on their way to the Mediterranean, having set sail less than 36 hours after the President made his announcement.
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The US port off Gaza may not be being established in quite the same hostile environment, but it is hardly without risk. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and various Iran-backed jihadist groups are always dying – often literally – to have a pop at the USA, and the floating pier will bring the personnel of the “Great Satan” within reach.
I don’t think they’ll be able to resist the opportunity it presents.

The USA and its allies, of course, won’t leave their facility unguarded, and all sorts of anti-drone and missile systems will be deployed to protect it.
But it only takes one hostile missile to penetrate the defences and hit the pier or a US ship and we’re into a whole different ballgame.
The defenders have to be successful in their efforts all the time, the opposition only has to be successful once.
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See - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/us-buil ... s-analyst/



Russian grip on Crimea looks shaky

Ukraine war: ten years after Putin annexed Crimea, Russia’s grip on the peninsula looks shaky.
It is ten years since Russia illegally annexed Crimea on March 18 2014. Subsequent efforts to firmly integrate the peninsula into the Russian Federation, however, have been far from the success story that the Kremlin often likes to portray.
In fact, comparing the increasingly shaky grip that Moscow has on the peninsula today with the situation before the annexation would suggest that Russia’s strategic position has actually worsened over the past decade.

Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/russian ... oks-shaky/

[Pelican]

Israel has agreed to provide ‘security bubble’ for Gaza pier project

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have raised concerns about protecting U.S. personnel helping in the humanitarian aid effort.

Israel has agreed to provide security for the temporary pier the U.S. military is planning to build in Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians on the brink of famine, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the plans.

Under the plans being discussed, which have not yet been finalized, the Israel Defense Forces would establish a “security bubble” to protect the U.S. personnel building the pier as well as the individuals involved in offloading and distributing the aid, said one of the officials, both of whom were granted anonymity to speak about sensitive discussions.

Continues https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/2 ... t-00149214

[Pelican]

Sea corridor aid for Gaza returning to Cyprus after NGO workers killed
https://www.reuters.com/world/cyprus-pr ... 024-04-02/

Middle East crisis: second shipment of Gaza aid sets sail from Cyprus – as it happened
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/ ... 6ebed93d7b

Cyprus to Gaza corridor will continue to operate, Cyprus president says
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240 ... dent-says/

[Pelican]

Navy Lookout
Govt says an [unnamed] Royal Navy ship is now en route to the Eastern Mediterranean as part of an international effort to set up a humanitarian maritime corridor to Gaza in early May.
RFA Mounts Bay the most likely candidate (?)

Britain sending warship to Gaza to deliver aid

The UK Government has announced a package of military and civilian support to set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza, including the deployment of a Royal Navy ship.

The ship, alongside new UK aid and British expertise, will support the establishment of an international humanitarian maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, supported by many of our partner governments and the UN, and is expected to be operational in early May.

According to a news release, as well as the Royal Navy ship, the FCDO is also committing up to £9.7 million for aid deliveries; logistical expertise and equipment support to the corridor, such as forklift trucks and storage units; and expertise, to maximise the levels of aid reaching those people who desperately need it.

Continues https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/britain ... liver-aid/

[Pelican]

Navy Lookout
Govt says an [unnamed] Royal Navy ship is now en route to the Eastern Mediterranean as part of an international effort to set up a humanitarian maritime corridor to Gaza in early May.
RFA Mounts Bay the most likely candidate (?)

Britain sending warship to Gaza to deliver aid

The UK Government has announced a package of military and civilian support to set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza, including the deployment of a Royal Navy ship.

The ship, alongside new UK aid and British expertise, will support the establishment of an international humanitarian maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, supported by many of our partner governments and the UN, and is expected to be operational in early May.

According to a news release, as well as the Royal Navy ship, the FCDO is also committing up to £9.7 million for aid deliveries; logistical expertise and equipment support to the corridor, such as forklift trucks and storage units; and expertise, to maximise the levels of aid reaching those people who desperately need it.

Continues https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/britain ... liver-aid/

Navy Lookout
Seems RFA Cardigan Bay is likely the vessel being deployed to the Eastern Med (from her normal base in Bahrain) for the aid operation to Gaza

[Pelican]

Navy Lookout
British military teams have been embedded with planning teams in the US operational HQ in Tampa as well as in Cyprus for several weeks to jointly develop the safest and most effective maritime route to deliver aid to Gaza.
The UKHO has also shared analysis of the Gazan shore with US planners to help establish the temporary aid pier.
Library photos attached.

[Pelican]

OSINTdefender
Hamas Negotiators have reportedly told International Meditators in Cairo that it has No Ability to Release the 40 Hostages in the Humanitarian Category (Women, Children, and Elderly) that were included in yesterday’s Ceasefire Proposal because out of the 136 Hostages that remain in the Gaza Strip, a Significant number are now believed to be Dead.
7:47 PM · Apr 8, 2024·1M Views

[Pelican]

OSINTdefender
Israeli Defense Sources are reporting that if Iran decides to launch a Direct Retaliatory Strike against the Territory of Israel, including Diplomatic Sites, then Israel will Respond with a Significant Wave of Strikes against Targets in Iran; another Source with links to the IDF has furthered this claim by stating to Saudi Media that the Israeli Air Force over the last 72-96 Hours has been conducted Intense Training with Various Combat Aircraft and Drones to Practice a Retaliatory Attack against a List of Targets in Iran which may include Nuclear Sites.

[Whilst not directly 'Naval' this report obviously will have knock on affects, possibly 'Naval,' should an attack on Iran materialise.]

[Pelican]

Navy Lookout
BREAKING
MoD confirms RFA Cardigan Bay is the vessel on her way to the eastern Mediterranean to join the US-led humanitarian aid operation to Gaza.
RFA Cardigan Bay passed through the Suez Canal today and is likely initially bound for Cyprus.
hms diamond previously escorted her through the Red Sea.