(LONDON) — As global concern over the hunger crisis in Gaza intensifies, Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, on Friday inspected the U.S. and Israel-backed aid distribution system there.
“Special Envoy Witkoff and Ambassador Huckabee will be traveling into Gaza on Friday 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 Thursday.
Leavitt said that immediately following the visit, Witkoff and Huckabee would brief Trump in order to “approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region.”
Huckabee posted photos of the visit on X.
Witkoff posted as well on X, saying, “At @POTUS’s direction, @USAmbIsrael and I met yesterday with Israeli officials to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Today, we spent over five hours inside Gaza — level setting the facts on the ground, assessing conditions, and meeting with @GHFUpdates and other agencies. The purpose of the visit was to give @POTUS a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.”
The president hinted at a new plan to address humanitarian concerns in Gaza on Monday following a meeting with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“We’re going to set up food centers and where the people can walk in and no boundaries. We’re not going to have fences,” Trump said. He later added that he expected European nations to work with the U.S. on the initiative, and that he expected the plan to be operational “very soon.”
But so far, both the White House and the State Department have declined to elaborate on the president’s comments or provide a basic framework for the new plan.
The Trump administration and Israel have backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial American non-profit now charged with distributing most aid that is allowed to enter Gaza.
The GHF — with Israel’s approval and despite rejection from the United Nations — took over most of the aid distribution system in Gaza on May 27, after an 11-week Israeli blockade on all supplies from entering the strip. Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the U.N. — formerly the main distributor — and others to fund its militant activity — claims which Hamas denies.
Earlier this month, more than 160 charity groups and NGOs called for the GHF to be shut down, claiming that more than 500 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid from the organization and that its distribution locations “have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law.”
But the administration has shown no signs of backing away from the GHF, which it has repeatedly touted as the only organization working in Gaza that is able to ensure aid doesn’t benefit Hamas.
The U.S. has pledged $30 million toward GHF’s efforts in Gaza and a U.S. official told ABC News on Wednesday that the money was expected to be distributed to the group within the coming days — a sign of the administration’s continued confidence in the organization.
As of now, GHF operates only four distribution sites across Gaza. Trump administration officials have always maintained that its operations could be scaled up, but there’s no indication the administration has played any direct role in planning for its expansion.
Ahead of his visit to Gaza, Witkoff met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
Following their discussion, an Israeli official told ABC News that the two had agreed to several tenets related to bringing the war in Gaza to a resolution, including that it was time to consider a ceasefire framework that would free all Israeli hostages, that Hamas must disarm, and that Israel and the U.S. should work together to increase the flow of aid into Gaza even as the conflict continues.
Witkoff’s visit to Gaza of Friday will mark his second trip to Gaza this year.
In late January, when the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was negotiated in part by both the Biden and Trump administrations was still in place, Witkoff became the first high-level U.S. official to enter Gaza in more than a decade when he toured an area of the Gaza Strip that was still occupied by the Israeli military.
-ABC’S Michelle Stoddart and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
