Inside the US plan to get food into Gaza by sea

More than 1,000 US troops are expected to participate in the operation. The Pentagon says there will be no boots on the ground. The goal is to deliver aid equivalent to two million meals a day to Gaza. The United Nations has warned that famine is almost inevitable without urgent action.

The causeway will be composed of interconnected, 40ft (12m) steel pieces linked together and attached to the shore. Cargo ships deliver supplies to the dock and the aid is then offloaded onto a range of barges and smaller vessels. From there, vehicles will drive the supplies onto land and into Gaza. The amphibious building project is known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore.

It has been used in Kuwait, Somalia, Haiti and Central America for disaster relief missions. As recently as July last year, the US defence department used similar equipment during a large-scale exercise in Australia. Fogbow is led by Sam Mundy, a former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. Mick Mulroy is a former CIA paramilitary officer and assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East.

The full details of what they will be doing has not been made public before. But a person familiar with the plan told the BBC that the Fogbow operation is primarily to organise the movement of aid. Military experts say the plan’s success is dependent on security. Large crowds of civilians gathering on the shore would shut down operations.

Israel Defense Force (IDF) will runouter security to prevent crowds of civilian reaching the beach and to make the area safe, sources say. The Pentagon has said no US troops will set foot in Gaza. The distribution will be the responsibility of local, unarmed Palestinians. Fogbow is expected to have only limited logistics roles and will not be involved in distribution.

According to the US defence department, this temporary pier will mean two million meals a day could enter Gaza. The quickest and most effective way to get aid into Gaza is by road. But aid agencies say Israeli restrictions mean a fraction of what is needed is crossing. US officials have said that increased shipments over land remain the only viable option to meet demand while the pier is set up.

First Gaza aid ship sets off from Cyprus on Monday. Spanish ship towing a barge loaded with 200 tonnes of food supplies. It hopes to dock at a small jetty being built by a US charity on the Gaza coast. The operation could be partly functioning before the pier is built.

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