US envoy Witkoff to inspect controversial aid sites in Gaza tomorrow as 48 more killed waiting for aid
by Josef Al Shemary · LBCBy Josef Al Shemary
US envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Gaza tomorrow to inspect the controversial GHF aid sites, as 48 more Palestinians have died seeking aid at the sites.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said Witkoff and US ambassador to Israel will visit Gaza tomorrow.
The pair will inspect the aid distribution sites, which are ran by Israel and staffed by American contractors.
She said Witkoff had "a very productive meeting" with Israeli prime minister Netanyahu and other officials today in Israel "on the topic of delivering much needed food and aid to Gaza.”
While inspecting the food distribution sites, the will attempt to "secure a plan to deliver more food.”
The officials will also meet with local Palestinians to hear “first-hand about this dire situation on the ground," Leavitt added.
It comes after at least 48 people were killed while waiting for food in Gaza according to a hospital in the strip, while the Hamas-run civil defence agency claimed 300 more were injured by Israeli gunfire.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed they fired "warning shots" after crowds gathered around aid trucks 3km southwest of the Zikim crossing - the primary entry point for humanitarian aid in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Read more: Dozens die in Gaza despite Israeli-declared ‘humanitarian pause’, health officials say
It comes after more than a hundred Palestinians died across the Gaza Strip within hours of Israel declaring daily ‘humanitarian pauses’ in operations to facilitate aid delivery, according to health officials.
On Saturday, Israel said it would establish humanitarian corridors to enable UN convoys to transport aid into Gaza, as well as airdrops.
In a statement, the country's military said it would allow "safe movement of deliveries of food and medicine" but that the military "emphasises that combat operations have not ceased".
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid in the last few months, and most of these incidents took place at sites ran by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The GHF is run by the US and Israel, with teams mostly staffed by private American contractors, who the contractors say are often unqualified, unvetted and heavily armed.
Shootings outside food distribution sites have been widely reported since Israel eased its blockade of humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, in May and began managing the distribution of aid itself.
Before this, Israel had imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip for almost 3 months, claiming Hamas had been profiting off the aid by selling it to starving Palestinians.
While the UN would distribute aid through hundreds of sites across the enclave, the GHF does so at four militarised sites, three of which are in the far south of the Gaza strip.
Thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, of desperate Palestinians descend on the aid sites every day during the short windows in which they are open.
Last week, more than 100 International aid organisations, human rights groups and media outlets warned of mass starvation in Gaza.
The UN estimates 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, while the Hamas-run health ministry state dozens of Palestinians have died from hunger-related causes in the last three weeks.
It comes amid international condemnation of the starvation crisis in Gaza, and several states, including the UK, announced they would recognise a Palestinian state.
Sir Keir said that the UK could recognise a Palestinian state as soon as the UN General Assembly in September, unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza”.
He said the Israeli government must reach a ceasefire, make clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commit to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution.