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Trump envoy Witkoff surveys Gaza as hunger crisis deepens, inspects food aid site
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff speaks to members of the news media with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt outside of the West Wing at the White House in Washington, US, on March 6, 2025. Reuters File
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff on Friday visited a contentious American-supported aid distribution site in Gaza on Friday, according to a CNN report, citing an Israeli source.
Witkoff arrived at the aid site in the southern city of Rafah - one of three locations where in recent weeks hundreds of Palestinians have died while attempting to access desperately needed food - which is run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), added the report.
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GHF was established to take over the United Nations' aid responsibilities in Gaza but has faced widespread criticism for failing to alleviate the worsening hunger crisis.
According to the UN, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while attempting to obtain food, with hundreds of those deaths occurring near GHF distribution sites.
The GHF disputes these claims.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee would visit Gaza 'to inspect the current distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground.'
Leavitt added that Witkoff and Huckabee would 'brief the president immediately after their visit to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region,' noting the White House would release further details 'once that plan is approved and agreed on by the president of the United States.'
Friday's visit marks Witkoff's second trip to Gaza. He previously travelled to the territory shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January, becoming the first US official to visit the enclave in over a decade.
A senior Hamas official criticized Witkoff's latest visit, dismissing it as little more than a photo opportunity.
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'Mr. Witkoff, Gaza is not an animal farm that requires a staged personal visit to take some personal photos in front of the death traps overseen by your American companies,' CNN quoted Basem Naim, a former Palestinian health minister in Gaza, as saying in a statement.
'The people of Gaza are not a group of beggars, but a free, proud, and noble people… who seek only their freedom, independence, and return to their homeland,' Naim added.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was created in May following Israeli allegations that United Nations aid was being diverted to Hamas. However, an internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft of US-funded humanitarian aid by the group.
The analysis, conducted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), examined 156 reports of waste, fraud, and abuse submitted by partner organixations between October 2023 and May 2025.
According to a presentation reviewed by CNN, the investigation 'found no affiliations' between those incidents and any sanctioned entities or foreign terrorist organisations.
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