U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff spent more than five hours inside Gaza on 1 August, visiting a distribution hub run by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. He said the mission aimed to give President Donald Trump “a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation” and to craft a plan to expand deliveries of food and medical supplies. Witkoff was accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and had met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier. The envoy’s tour drew immediate criticism from aid agencies. The United Nations, which refuses to cooperate with the GHF, says more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while trying to collect food since the foundation began operating in late May. Human Rights Watch described the system as “militarised” and inherently dangerous. Hours after Witkoff left Rafah, Palestinian medics reported that Israeli soldiers shot dead three civilians near one of the charity’s sites; the Israeli military said it was examining the incident. Gaza’s 2.2 million residents remain almost entirely dependent on outside assistance amid warnings of imminent famine. The Israeli army said 200 aid trucks moved into the enclave on 31 July, while six countries airdropped 126 food parcels the following day. Aid officials contend that thousands of trucks are still waiting at the border and that sporadic air drops cannot stem rising malnutrition deaths, which local health workers say already number in the dozens. The humanitarian emergency unfolds against the backdrop of a 22-month war that began when Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages in southern Israel on 7 October 2023. Gaza health authorities say Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians. Talks on a 60-day cease-fire and hostage release remain stalled.