Trump officials visit controversial aid site in Gaza
CNN
US envoy Steve Witkoff and Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, inspected Gaza aid delivery sites today amid widespread starvation and deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Follow for live updates.
• US officials visit Gaza: Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel, inspected aid delivery sites in Gaza today. Yesterday in Jerusalem, Witkoff met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing growing global pressure to allow more food and medical supplies into Gaza. • More airdrops: Airdrops of supplies into Gaza have continued since Israel allowed them last week, with the efforts coordinated in part by the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Canada. The method has been widely criticized by aid groups as insufficient to address the humanitarian crisis, and dangerous. • Diplomatic breakdown: Hamas says it wants to renew Gaza ceasefire talks, but not until sufficient aid reaches starving Palestinians in the enclave. Sources told CNN the group has completely disengaged from negotiations. Israel and the US recalled their delegations from Qatar last week, with Washington blaming Hamas for negotiating in “bad faith.” US officials, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, visited aid distribution sites in Gaza on Friday. Witkoff said he spent five hours in the enclave to better understand the humanitarian situation and to relay it back to US President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Palestinians said that the Israeli military shot at them while they waited to receive food near the same US-backed aid distribution hub that Witkoff visited in southern Gaza. One hospital said it had received at least three people who were killed and six who were injured by gunfire near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution center. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it fired warning shots to prevent a group of people advancing toward its troops, after calling on the group to distance itself. The IDF said it was not aware of any casualties resulting from its fire but was investigating the incident.
