President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, visited an aid distribution site in southern Gaza on Friday.
The two officials visited the facility in Rafah operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which was established in February and is backed by the U.S. and Israel. The foundation has overseen most of the aid distribution in the Palestinian enclave since a new system launched in May.
Their visit follows Witkoff’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday to discuss the urgent humanitarian situation taking place in the enclave, CNN reported.
Friday’s visit to Gaza
Trump “sent his envoy to serve as his eyes and ears on the ground, reflecting his deep concern and commitment to doing what’s right,” Gaza Humanitarian Foundation spokesperson Chapin Fay said in a statement, according to CBS News.
Fay added, “We were honored to brief his delegation, share our operations, and demonstrate the impact of delivering 100 million meals to those who need them most.”
In a post on X, Huckabee said he went to Gaza to observe the “humanitarian food program by US launched GHF,” noting the program had “over 100 MILLION meals served in 2 months.”
In another post, Huckabee stated he traveled with Witkoff to “learn the truth” about the GHF aid sites, attended briefings with Israel Defense Forces and “spoke to folks on the ground.”
He praised GHF for delivering “more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat!”
The hunger crisis in Gaza
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported Thursday that since late May, 1,300 Palestinians have died while seeking food, with 859 deaths occurring “in the vicinity” of GHF sites and 514 individuals killed along food convoy routes.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that at least 91 Palestinians were killed, with more than 600 wounded, while seeking aid in the past 24 hours, as reported by The Associated Press.
The report continued to note the toll is only expected to rise, as those wounded were taken to hospitals in northern Gaza that are undersupplied and those individuals were not counted at the time of the report’s release.
Doctors Without Borders commented on the food crisis in Gaza, noting that the way supplies are distributed to the thousands of starving Palestinians forces them “to walk long distances to reach the four distribution sites and fight for scraps of food supplies.”
The report continued, “These sites are especially difficult to access for women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. People are often killed and wounded in the chaotic process; over 500 people have been killed and nearly 4,000 have been wounded while trying to get food.”
Last week, the World Food Program, a United Nations agency, described the Gaza hunger crisis as reaching “new and astonishing levels of desperation.”
On Monday, Trump acknowledged “real starvation” in Gaza. After viewing images of Palestinians, Trump remarked that “those children look very hungry,” adding that “you can’t fake that.”
Trump stated the U.S. would establish food centers in Gaza because “we have to get the kids fed,” contradicting Netanyahu’s assertion that there is “no starvation in Gaza,” NBC News reported.
