Trump Envoy Is Expected to See Gaza Aid Efforts Firsthand
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the past two months in Gaza while trying to secure aid, which has led to growing international pressure on Israel to ease the catastrophic humanitarian suffering.
On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that Mr. Witkoff and Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, would meet with Palestinians in Gaza and examine aid distribution sites.
Ms. Leavitt said that Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Huckabee would brief President Trump afterward 'to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region.'
Mr. Witkoff, a close confidante of President Trump, was scheduled to visit at least one aid distribution site overseen by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or G.H.F., a contentious Israeli-backed group operated by American security contractors. It has been distributing aid in Gaza since May.
The G.H.F. has aided Israel in overhauling the system for aid distribution in Gaza as a part of an effort that Israeli officials said was meant to prevent Hamas from benefiting from supplies entering the territory.
However, Israeli military officials have told The New York Times that the military has found no evidence that Hamas systematically stole aid from the United Nations, which has provided much of the aid to Gaza since the war there began almost two years ago.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed on their way to collect parcels of food from G.H.F. sites, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Witnesses have reported that, on a number of occasions, Israeli troops opened fire on the approaches to the new aid hubs. The Israeli military has said repeatedly that its troops have fired 'warning shots' when people approached its forces in a threatening manner.
On Thursday, Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said that Mr. Witkoff's visit to Gaza would be a 'propaganda show.'
'Witkoff will only see in Gaza what the occupation wants him to see,' he wrote on social media, adding, 'He will look at the ongoing tragedy with deceptive Israeli eyes.'
It was not immediately clear whether Israeli soldiers would accompany the American officials in Gaza.
Mr. Witkoff also visited Gaza in January, where he said he saw widespread destruction.
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