Senior Hamas official slams US envoy's 'staged' visit to Gaza
'To remind you once again: The people of Gaza are not a group of beggars, but a free, proud, and noble people (if you understand what these words mean), who seek only their freedom, independence, and return to their homeland,' Naim said.
Witkoff entered the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Friday to visit a controversial US-backed aid distribution site, run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)
Naim said the GHF distribution mechanism was a 'humanitarian scandal.' The mechanism was set up to replace the United Nations' aid role in Gaza, after Israeli officials complained that UN aid was making it to Hamas.
But the GHF mechanism has been broadly criticized for failing to improve conditions as starvation spreads in Gaza. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food, hundreds of them near GHF sites, according to the UN. The GHF disputes this.
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