Donald Trump's statements about helping the starving in Gaza come after the US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, on Friday visited southern Gaza together with the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. In total, they spent five hours inside Gaza.
Witkoff and Huckabee visited the heavily criticized Israeli-American organization Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which distributes food to starving Gazans. Among other things, they visited one of the organization's distribution centers in Rafah.
Witkoff writes on X that they spent a total of five hours in Gaza to "get a clear picture of the facts on the spot, assess the conditions and give President Trump a clear picture of the humanitarian situation".
Trump himself now states that they want to help the population in Gaza get access to food.
It's something that should have happened a long time ago, he says to Axios.
Sharp criticism
The President is also said to have repeated the Israeli government's claims that much of the food that enters Gaza is stolen by Hamas. Trump did not go further into how the US plans to help get food into Gaza.
All four food distribution centers run by the organization are located in areas controlled by the Israeli military and have been the subject of sharp criticism during the months they have been in operation, as starving Gazans have been killed by gunfire or trampled. The Israeli military blames Hamas and says they only fired warning shots to avoid congestion.
Spokespersons at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza say they received 25 dead on Friday, 13 of whom were killed when they tried to pick up food from the distribution centers, according to AP.
Blamed Hamas
On Thursday, Witkoff landed in Israel where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His visit comes a week after American officials left the arms talks in Qatar, blamed Hamas and promised to seek other ways to rescue Israeli hostages and make Gaza safe.
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Witkoff was sent to develop a plan to increase food and aid deliveries, while Trump wrote on social media that the fastest way to end the crisis would be for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages.
