President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy visited a US-backed aid operation in Gaza yesterday, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there.
Steve Witkoff visited a site run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Rafah in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, where Israel has been fighting Hamas.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who travelled with Witkoff, posted on X a picture showing hungry Gazans behind razor wire with a GHF poster displaying a big American flag and the words ‘100,000,000 meals delivered’.
“President Trump understands the stakes in Gaza and that feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority,” GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay said in a statement accompanied by images of Witkoff in a grey camouflage top, flak jacket and ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap with Trump’s name stitched on the back.
Witkoff said on X that he had also met with other agencies.
“The purpose of the visit was to give @POTUS (Trump) a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza,” Witkoff said.
He visited Gaza a day after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel is under mounting international pressure over the devastation of Gaza since the start of the war and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants.
Hours after Witkoff’s visit, Palestinian medics reported Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group’s sites in the city on Gaza’s southern edge.
Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. The Israeli military said it was still looking into the incident.
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