U.S. Special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff visited Gaza aid sites on Friday, August 1, 2025, to assess the humanitarian conditions.
Accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Witoff inspected aid distribution sites run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
In a brief address after landing at an aid site, Witkoff promised a plan to boost aid delivery, saying: “We’ll secure more food for Gazans facing real starvation.”
Also, Huckabee praised the US-backed aid mechanism in Gaza after he visited the enclave on Friday.
“Went into Gaza today & observed humanitarian food program by US launched GHF,” Huckabee wrote on his personal X account, after visiting Gaza with Witkoff.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the U.S. envoy visited Gaza aid site after the White House announced the trip.
“Tomorrow (Friday), special envoy Witkoff and Ambassador Huckabee will be traveling into 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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a Thursday media briefing.
Witkoff and Huckabee “will brief the president Donald Trump immediately after their visit to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region,” she said.
Witkoff’s visit also followed an intense global criticism of Israel’s blockade, which the United Nations (UN) blames for “man-made” famine.
The UN also said on Friday that 1353 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces as they waited for aid, 859 around GHF sites, and another 514 along the route of UN aid convoys.
Speaking on Friday, a UN spokesperson said Israeli policies had led to the widespread desperation in Gaza that meant arriving UN trucks were overwhelmed and stripped before they could reach warehouses.
The UN says that longstanding Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid had created an unpredictable environment, and that meant while a pause in fighting might allow more aid in, Palestinians are not confident aid will reach them.
“This has resulted in many of our convoys offloaded directly by starving, desperate people as they continue to face deep levels of hunger and are struggling to feed their families,” said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“The only way to reach a level of confidence is by having a sustained flow of aid over some time,” she said.
