Efforts ramped up on Friday to deliver more desperately needed aid to war-ravaged Gaza, with the United States and Europe focusing on opening a sea route, underscoring the West's growing frustration with Israel’s conduct in the war.

What You Need To Know

  • Efforts ramped up on Friday to deliver more desperately needed aid to war-ravaged Gaza, with the United States and Europe focusing on opening a sea route

  • A top European Union official said a charity ship will head to Gaza as a pilot operation for a new humanitarian sea corridor

  • Just hours earlier in his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. military will set up a temporary pier on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast

  • After Thursday's address, Biden was heard telling a Democratic lawmaker and members of his Cabinet that he communicated to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they will need to have a “come to Jesus meeting"

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Cyprus, where she's inspecting preparations for the vessel, that it will make a pilot voyage to test the corridor in the coming days.

The European Union, together with the United States, the United Arab Emirates and other involved countries were launching the sea route in response to the “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in Gaza, Von der Leyen said at a news conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, with innocent Palestinian families and children desperate for basic needs," she said.

The ship will depart for Gaza on Saturday, Christodoulides told The Associated Press.

Israel said Friday it welcomed the maritime corridor. But cautioned it would also need security checks.

“The Cypriot initiative will allow the increase of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, after a security check according to Israeli standards,” Lior Haiat, spokesperson for Israel’s foreign ministry, said on X, formerly Twitter.

Just hours earlier, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. military will set up a temporary pier on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast. He unveiled the plan during his State of the Union address to Congress after last week approving the U.S. military airdropping aid into Gaza.

After Thursday's address, Biden was heard telling Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a fellow Democrat, and Cabinet members Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, that he has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they will need to have a “come to Jesus meeting.”

In the exchange, Bennet congratulates Biden on his speech and urges the president to keep pressing Netanyahu on humanitarian concerns in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were also part of the brief conversation.

Biden then responds, “I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting.”

An aide to the president standing nearby then speaks quietly into the president’s ear, appearing to alert the president that microphones remain on as he worked the room.

“I’m on a hot mic here,” Biden says after being alerted. “Good. That’s good.”

Before leaving for Philadelphia on Friday, when asked about his comment on Friday, Biden quipped: "I didn't say that in my speech." When reporters pointed out he was heard on hot mic saying it, he added: "You guys are eavesdropping on things."

A reporter asked Biden if Netanyahu needs to do more on humanitarian aid, Biden replied: "Yes he does."

Biden has become increasingly public about his frustration with the Netanyahu government’s unwillingness to open more land crossings for critically needed aid to make its way into Gaza.

The plans follow an announcement Thursday by Hamas that negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages will resume next week, dimming hopes that mediators could broker a truce before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin at sundown Sunday.

After more than five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Israel’s near-total blockade of Gaza and the fighting have made it nearly impossible to deliver aid in most of Gaza, aid groups say. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Over 100 hostages were released during a temporary cease-fire in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The number of Palestinians killed has climbed above 30,800. That's according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children