US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has visited a food distribution site in the Gaza Strip operated by an Israeli-backed American contractor whose efforts to deliver food to the hunger-stricken territory have been marred by violence and controversy.
International experts warned this week that a “worst-case scenario of famine” is playing out in Gaza.
Israel’s near 22-month military offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some 2.0 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving people.
Envoy Steve Witkoff and the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, toured a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, which has been almost completely destroyed and is now a largely depopulated Israeli military zone.
Hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while heading to such aid sites since May, according to witnesses, health officials and the UN human rights office.
Israel and GHF say they have only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated.
In a report issued on Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said GHF was at the heart of a “flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.”
Mr Witkoff posted on X that he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza in order to gain “a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza”.
He did not request any meetings with UN officials in Gaza during his visit, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. UN agencies have provided aid throughout Gaza since the start of the war, when conditions allow.
Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for GHF, said the visit reflected Mr Trump’s understanding of the stakes and that “feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority”.
The group said it has delivered over 100 million meals since it began operations in May.
All four of the group’s sites established in May are in zones controlled by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation, with starving people scrambling for scarce aid.
More 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire since May while seeking aid in the territory, most near the GHF sites but also near United Nations aid convoys, the UN human rights office said last month.
The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding.
Officials at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said on Friday they received the bodies of 13 people who were killed while trying to get aid, including near the site that US officials visited.
GHF denied anyone was killed at their sites on Friday and said most recent shootings had occurred near UN aid convoys.
Mr Witkoff’s visit comes a week after US officials walked away from ceasefire talks in Qatar, blaming Hamas and pledging to seek other ways to rescue Israeli hostages and make Gaza safe.
Mr Trump wrote on social media that the fastest way to end the crisis would be for Hamas to surrender and release hostages.
The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7 2023 and abducted 251 others.
They still hold 50 hostages, including about 20 believed to be alive. Most of the others have been released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
