Witkoff Visits Gaza To analyse Aid Crisis, Hamas Dismisses 'Staged' photograph Op

US envoy Steve Witkoff has made an unprecedented visit to Gaza on Friday in order to personally inspect humanitarian aid sites and assess the growing humanitarian crisis.

Under Israeli security, Witkoff entered the southern Gaza city of Rafah to visit a a US-backed aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – which is protected by American security contractors. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is also present, as was previewed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a Thursday press briefing.

Ambassador Mike Huckabee/X

„Tomorrow, special envoy Witkoff and Ambassador Huckabee will be traveling into Gaza 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,” Leavitt had said.

Witkoff says he is going to brief the president based on his fact-finding mission in the strip amid growing international pressure, and after the UN’s human rights arm had publicized that as of mid-july 674 Palestinians had been killed „in the vicinity of GHF sites.”

Huckabee and Witkoff’s statements have so far been sparce on details but have been generally positive, despite most of Gaza having been leveled and with the majority of Palestinians internally displaced and with many starving.

„We received briefings from the IDF and spoke to folks on the ground,” Huckabee wrote on X. „GHF delivers more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat!”

Huckabee earlier stated that the visit to Gaza was „to learn the truth” about the aid distribution sites, also after the United Nations complained it’s been sidelined and that aid is not getting in. Israel has consistently accused the UN of allowing aid to fall into the hands of Hamas and armed criminal gangs.

And Witkoff wrote on X, „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,” he added. But Hamas has condemned what it’s calling a „staged personal visit” and a photo opportunity:

„Mr. Witkoff, Gaza is not an animal farm that requires a staged personal visit to take some personal photos in front of the death traps overseen by your American companies,” Basem Naim, a former Palestinian health minister in Gaza, said.

„To remind you once again: The people of Gaza are not a group of beggars, but a free, proud, and noble people (if you understand what these words mean), who seek only their freedom, independence, and return to their homeland,” Naim added.

The Witkoff-Huckabee team is clearly defending the US-Israeli aid delivery scheme…

Went into Gaza today & observed humanitarian food program by US launched GHF. Hamas hates GHF b/c it gets food to ppl w/o it being looted by Hamas. Over 100 MILLION meals served in 2 months. pic.twitter.com/BrBtrDg2Hg

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 1, 2025

Some residents have said that other delivery methods like airdrops is like „a drop in the ocean” and nowhere near enough to rescue hundreds of thousands who are on the brink of starvation. Others are calling on Witkoff and Huckabee to visit the „real” Gaza, describing the Friday visit as highly choreographed and controlled by the Israeli side of the conflict.

A number of mainstream press reports are also skeptical: „There are only three active distribution sites in the enclave, in southern and central Gaza – far fewer than hundreds under the previous aid model run by the United Nations,” observes CNN. „This has forced massive crowds to gather at GHF locations, where hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, according to the UN.”