Pro-Palestinian protesters block Biden motorcade route ahead of State of the Union speech

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the White House on Thursday to bring attention to the war in the Gaza Strip.

President Joe Biden is expected to announce that the U.S. military will set up a temporary port off Gaza, acting amid an international push to create a sea route for food and other aid as U.N. and U.S. officials warn of famine among Palestinian civilians trapped by the Israel-Hamas war.

The U.S. officials said it would likely take weeks before the pier was operational.

The announcement signals further deepening U.S. involvement in the war and the escalating tensions and fighting in the region.

It also shows the Biden administration resorting to an unusual workaround to get help to Gaza's 2.3 million people, as it deals with restrictions that U.S. ally Israel has placed on overland aid deliveries, and with growing criticism of the administration's own handling of the conflict.

Also watch: Israel-Hamas war: US airdrops thousands of meals in war-torn Gaza

A widening humanitarian crisis across Gaza during five months of war and tight Israeli control of aid trucks has left virtually the entire population desperately short of food, the U.N. says.