US envoy visits distribution site in Gaza as humanitarian crisis worsens
DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip AP U S President Donald Trump s special envoy Steve Witkoff visited southern Gaza on Friday during international outrage over starvation shortages and deadly chaos near aid distribution sites Witkoff and U S Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee toured one of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation s distribution sites in Rafah Gaza s southernmost city according to an official involved with the visit The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media All four of the group s distribution sites are in zones controlled by the Israeli military and throughout their months in operation have become flashpoints of desperation where starving people scramble for scarce aid Hundreds have been killed by either gunfire or trampling The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding Witkoff s visit comes a week after U S administrators walked away from ceasefire talks in Qatar blaming Hamas and pledging to seek other avenues to rescue Israeli hostages and make Gaza safe White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Thursday that he was sent to craft a plan to boost food and aid deliveries as part of an effort to save lives and end this dilemma while Trump wrote on social media that the fastest way to end the problem would be for Hamas to surrender and release hostages International organizations have mentioned Gaza has been on the brink of famine for the past two years The Integrated Food Assurance Phase Classification the leading international authority on food crises declared contemporary developments including a complete blockade on aid for months mean the worst-case scenario of famine is as of now playing out in Gaza Though the flow of aid has resumed including via airdrops the amount getting into Gaza remains far lower than what aid organizations say is needed A prevention breakdown in the territory has made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving Palestinians much of the limited aid entering is horded and later sold at exorbitant prices In a assessment issued Friday Human Rights Watch called it a flawed militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths Israel s military and prime minister s office did not respond to request for comment on the overview A July video published Thursday by the U N Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs displayed an aid convoy driving past a frontier overcoming as gunfire ricocheted off the ground near where crowds congregated We were met on the road by tens of thousands of hungry and desperate people who directly offloaded everything from the backs of our trucks commented Olga Cherevko an OCHA staff member The war between Israel and Hamas started when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct killing around people and abducting others They still hold hostages including around concluded to be alive The greater part of the others have been distributed in ceasefires or other deals Israel s retaliatory offensive has killed more than Palestinians according to Gaza s Wellbeing Ministry Its count doesn t distinguish between militants and civilians The ministry operates under the Hamas regime The U N and other international organizations see it as the majority of reliable source of input on casualties Metz announced from Jerusalem and Frankel from Tel Aviv Israel Source
