Top Republican presses Biden on 'grave' concerns with Gaza aid port as Pentagon warns there is 'certainly a risk' that Hamas could fire on U.S. troops during the operation

A top Republican is sounding the alarm about 'grave' consequences of President Biden's plan to establish an emergency floating port off Gaza to help get more humanitarian into the war-torn region. 

During his State of the Union address, Biden ordered the U.S. military to send thousands of American troops on ships with armed escorts to build a temporary pier off Gaza.

'I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters,' the president stated last week.

'No U.S. boots will be on the ground,' Biden pledged. 'A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.'

However, former Special Forces officer Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., fired off a letter to Biden obtained by DailyMail.com stating that he 'cannot easily imagine a more potentially catastrophic U.S. policy towards Gaza. The risk seems immense.'

A map of the Gaza region. Threats to U.S. military personnel would be heightened as they construct the port off the coast of the war-torn region

During his State of the Union address, Biden ordered the U.S. military to send thousands of American troops on ships with armed escorts to build a temporary pier off Gaza

Waltz has yet to receive a response from the White House regarding his concerns.

He says the main problems remain with the distribution of the aid as Hamas terrorists are likely to intercept it before it gets into the hands of civilians.  

'The problem has been distribution, and distribution is what matters. This is a product of, if you will, commercialization of the assistance: criminal gangs are taking it, looting it, reselling it,' Waltz wrote. 

In addition, the congressman, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, is also questioning how the military will be able to 'maintain security' over shipments at the dock, including intercepting lethal Iranian aid and missile components. 

'This type of smuggled lethal aid is precisely the reason Israel is at such danger from Hamas, and why we must make every effort to ensure that additional Iranian weapons do not reach Gaza,' he says, calling the operation a 'vast misprioritization of U.S. military resources.'

'It is unclear how this operation will address the six remaining US citizens among the more than 134 hostages still in the hands of Hamas,' he adds.

Waltz has yet to receive a response from the White House regarding his concerns, but he is demanding an in-detail briefing of the operational plan immediately.

In addition, threats to U.S. military personnel would be heightened as they construct the port.

A reporter asked the Pentagon's press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder last week if the Pentagon anticipated that Hamas will 'try to fire on them, on the operation?'

Ryder responded: 'Look, I mean, that's certainly a risk.'

'But if Hamas truly does care about the Palestinian people, then again, one would hope that this international mission to deliver aid to people who need it would be able to happen unhindered,' Ryder continued. 

During the State of the Union, Biden added that Israel 'must also do its part' to better facilitate aid into Gaza.

'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 president stated.

Children carry kitchen utensils as they walk toward a food distribution point in Gaza

Biden administration officials offered no timeline for when the pier will be built or where exactly it will be located but said its construction will allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential items to be delivered to the 2.2 million Palestinians.

They said the White House will coordinate with the Israelis regarding security on the ground and with the United Nations and humanitarian groups on getting aid delivered. 

The temporary pier will allow for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day, the officials said. It will be an additional route for humanitarian aid, which is currently limited to two land crossings into the southern part of Gaza.

Other countries will be involved in its construction but it's unclear if Israel will be. 

The project could take more than 30 to 60 days to construct and would involve hundreds or thousands of U.S. troops on ships just off shore. It will also require armed escorts and other protective measures.

One of the main military units involved in the construction will be the Army’s 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), out of Joint Base Eustis-Langley, Va., near Norfolk, U.S. Defense Department officials told the New York Times.

Humanitarian aid falls over northern Gaza - the U.S. is participating in the air drops

Supplies are dropped out of an airplane down onto Gaza 

Palestinians carry or transport on carts some personal belongings, as they flee Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip 

Biden has already ordered U.S. airlifts of aid, which the military has carried out.

A famine has not yet been declared for Gaza but 20% of households suffer from an extreme lack of food, 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition and 2 in 10,000 people dying per day 'due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease,' the World Food Program said.

The administration said it was imperative to get aid on the ground as soon as possible - and that it would go around Israel, its longtime ally, to do it.

The White House is also working to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to release hostages and get aid in more easily. 

Biden said during the State of the Union that he's been working  'non-stop' to establish an immediate ceasefire that would last for six weeks. 

That would allow time 'to get all the prisoners released - all the hostages released and to get the hostages home,' he said. 

It would also 'ease the intolerable an- humanitarian crisis and build toward an enduring - a more - something more enduring.'