US envoy visits aid site in Gaza run by Israeli-backed group that has
been heavily criticized
[August 02, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAM METZ and JULIA FRANKEL
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mideast
envoy on Friday visited a food distribution site in the Gaza Strip
operated by an Israeli-backed American contractor whose efforts to
deliver food to the hunger-stricken territory have been marred by
violence and controversy.
International experts warned this week that a “worst-case scenario of
famine” is playing out in Gaza. Israel's nearly 22-month military
offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some
2 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to safely deliver
food to starving people.
Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee
toured a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site in Rafah, Gaza’s
southernmost city, which has been almost completely destroyed and is now
a largely depopulated Israeli military zone.
Hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while heading to
such aid sites since May, according to witnesses, health officials and
the United Nations human rights office. Israel and GHF say they have
only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated.
In a report issued on Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said
GHF was at the heart of a “flawed, militarized aid distribution system
that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.”
Witkoff says he's working on a new Gaza aid plan
Witkoff posted on X that he had spent over five hours inside Gaza in
order to gain “a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and
help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of
Gaza.”
He did not request any meetings with U.N. officials in Gaza during his
visit, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. U.N. agencies
have provided aid throughout Gaza since the start of the war, when
conditions allow.
Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for GHF, said the visit reflected Trump's
understanding of the stakes and that “feeding civilians, not Hamas, must
be the priority.” The aid group says it has delivered over 100 million
meals since it began operations in May.
All four of the group’s sites established in May are in zones controlled
by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation, with
starving people scrambling for scarce aid.
More than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire since May while
seeking aid in the territory, most near the GHF sites but also near
United Nations aid convoys, the U.N. human rights office said last
month.
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.
Dozens killed near aid sites
Officials at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said Friday they received
the bodies of 13 people who were killed while trying to get aid,
including near the site that U.S. officials visited. GHF denied anyone
was killed at their sites on Friday.
The Israeli military said its forces had fired warning shots hundreds of
meters (yards) away from the aid site at people it described as suspects
and said had ignored orders to distance themselves from its forces. It
said it was not aware of any casualties but was still investigating.
Another 23 people were killed and dozens wounded near the Israeli-run
Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for aid to northern Gaza, according
to Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital, which
received the bodies. He said the vast majority of injuries were from
gunfire.
The Israeli military said it struck several armed militants in northern
Gaza but that the strike “was not conducted near the passage of the
humanitarian aid trucks and no damage was caused to them.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said 11 people were
killed at another aid distribution point in Gaza City. There was no
immediate comment from the military on those deaths.
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This handout photo from US Embassy Jerusalem shows White House
special envoy Steve Witkoff, center, visiting a food distribution
site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed
organization approved by Israel, in the Gaza Strip Friday, Aug. 1,
2025. (David Azaguri/US Embassy Jerusalem via AP)
HRW slams Israeli-backed aid system
Human Rights Watch said in its report that “it would be near
impossible for Palestinians to follow the instructions issued by GHF,
stay safe, and receive aid, particularly in the context of ongoing
military operations.” It cited doctors, aid seekers and at least one
GHF security contractor.
Building on previous accounts, it described how how thousands of
Palestinians gather near the sites at night before they open. As
they head to the sites on foot, Israeli forces control their
movements by opening fire toward them. Once inside the sites, they
race for aid in a frenzied fee-for-all, with weaker and more
vulnerable people coming away with nothing, HRW said.
Responding to the report, Israel’s military accused Hamas of
sabotaging the aid distribution system, without providing evidence.
It said it was working to make the routes under its control safer
for those traveling to aid sites. GHF did not immediately respond to
questions about the report.
The group has never allowed journalists to visit their sites and
Israel’s military has barred reporters from independently entering
Gaza throughout the war.
Top German diplomat condemns settler violence in the West Bank
Germany's foreign minister visited Taybeh in the occupied West Bank,
a Palestinian Christian village that has seen recent attacks by
Israeli settlers. Johann Wadephul said Israel's settlements are an
obstacle to peace and condemned settler violence. He also called on
Hamas to lay down its arms in Gaza and release the remaining
hostages.
Germany has so far declined to join other major Western countries in
announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state.
Palestinians in another nearby town laid to rest 45-year-old Khamis
Ayad, who they say suffocated while extinguishing fires set by
settlers during an attack the night before. Witnesses said Israeli
forces fired live rounds and tear gas toward residents after the
settlers attacked.
Israel’s military said police were investigating the incident. They
said security forces found Hebrew graffiti and a burnt vehicle at
the scene but had not detained any suspects.
There has been a rise in settler attacks, as well as Palestinian
militant attacks on Israelis and large-scale Israeli military
operations in the occupied West Bank since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023
attack on Israel out of Gaza that triggered the Israel-Hamas war.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians,
that day and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages,
including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the others have
been released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000
Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t
distinguish between militants and civilians and operates under the
Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see
it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
___
Metz reported from Jerusalem and Frankel from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations
contributed to this report.
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