Trump Mideast Envoy Visits Gaza Aid Sites
Pictures released by Israeli media showed Steve Witkoff and Ambassador Mike Huckabee visiting a distribution site in the southern city of Rafah run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private Israeli and U.S.-backed group set up to replace U.N. agencies, amid rising concerns over widespread starvation throughout the strip.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that the aim of the trip was to 'secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about the dire situation on the ground.'
She added that both officials would brief Trump immediately after their visit 'to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region.'
Read More: Republican Divide Over Gaza Grows
The visit comes as two separate reports from the United Nations and Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of killing hundreds of Palestinians at aid sites, which were established by Israel following an 11-week blockade of all food and supplies, and coincided with the closing of all almost all other aid routes into Gaza.
The U.N. said that at least 1,370 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since May 27, when Israel began its new distribution plan led by the U.S.-funded GHF—859 of those deaths were in the vicinity of GHF sites, with 514 occurring along the routes of food convoy routes according to the U.N.
The U.N. said most of the killings 'were committed by the Israeli military,' adding that 'while we are aware of the presence of other armed elements in the same areas, we do not have information indicating their involvement in these killings.'
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on the same day as Witkoff's visit that the Israeli army and private contractors operating the GHF sites 'have turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.'
'Israeli forces at the sites of a new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza have routinely opened fire on starving Palestinian civilians in acts that amount to serious violations of international law and war crimes,' HRW said in its report.
'Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,' said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at the rights group.
Read More: The Malnutrition Crisis in Gaza Will Outlive the War
In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told TIME:
'The IDF allows the American civilian organization (GHF) to operate independently in distributing aid to the residents of Gaza, and operates in proximity to the new distribution areas in order to enable the orderly delivery of food,' without a direct response to HRW's allegations.
'IDF forces are conducting systematic review processes in order to improve the operational response in the area and minimize, as much as possible, any friction between the civilian population and IDF forces,' it continued, adding that reports of civilian casualties near distribution sites are under review.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that there is 'no starvation in Gaza.' But Trump has since said that he did 'not particularly' agree with that assessment.
'I see it, and you can't fake that. So, we're going to be even more involved,' Trump said in reference to the images of hungry children that have circulated online. The President vowed to open up food centers in the region.
Ambassador Huckabee said on social media ahead of the visit that he aimed to 'learn the truth about GHF aid sites,' adding that 'Hamas hates GHF [because] it gets food to [people without] it being looted by Hamas,' he also said during the visit.
An internal U.S. government report in July by the Agency for International Development (USAID) found no evidence of Hamas-looting U.S.-funded aid. The analysis looked at over 156 incidents between October 2023 and May 2025, finding no reports of Hamas looting.
The Israeli military implemented a near-total blockade of Gaza in March, cutting off food, fuel, and humanitarian supplies. It reopened a limited number of crossings in April under a new set of restrictions, but aid organizations say the flow remains far below what is needed to stave off mass starvation.
More than 154 people, including 89 children, have died of starvation and malnutrition since the conflict began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
On Tuesday, a U.N.-backed food security group said that the 'worst-case famine scenario' is unfolding in Gaza. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released a report detailing that famine thresholds have been met for food consumption across most of Gaza.
While the report is still short of an official famine declaration, with the IPC has only done so on a few occasions, it described: 'mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.'
Read More: How to Stop Gazans Dying of Starvation Now
The visit by Trump's envoy comes at a crucial time in the Gaza war, which was triggered by a Hamas terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when more than 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
Trump has expressed his desire to increase aid into Gaza, but is also pushing for a new ceasefire and for an end to the war. Witkoff met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for several hours in Jerusalem on Thursday to discuss Gaza, before his visit to the territory.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have died since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
In the absence of independent monitoring on the ground, the ministry is the primary source for casualty data relied upon by humanitarian groups, journalists, and international bodies. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified by TIME.
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