U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, visited a Gaza food distribution center on Friday amid mounting international criticism over deadly chaos at aid sites, even as 13 more Palestinians were reported killed while trying to obtain food.
Witkoff toured the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation facility alongside U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, saying Washington is working on a plan to “streamline aid distribution” in the enclave. The visit coincided with the arrival of 13 bodies at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, victims of gunfire near the very center Witkoff inspected.
International experts have warned Gaza faces “the worst-case famine scenario” after nearly 22 months of Israeli military operations, which have devastated security and left two million residents struggling to access food.
According to the U.N. human rights office and local health sources, more than 1,000 people have been killed since May while approaching U.N. aid convoys or distribution points, often under Israeli fire. In northern Gaza, at least 23 more people were killed near the Zikim crossing, the main aid entry point, and the Palestinian Red Crescent reported 11 additional deaths at another Gaza City site.
The Israeli military has claimed it fires only “warning shots” and denies responsibility for civilian deaths. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says its security forces use pepper spray and warning fire to control crowds.
Human Rights Watch, in a new report, described the aid distribution system as “flawed and militarized,” likening some food queues to “regular killing grounds.”
Witkoff said he spent more than five hours inside Gaza assessing humanitarian needs but held no meetings with U.N. officials who have been coordinating aid since the start of the war.
