White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, center, visite a food distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, in the Gaza Strip on Friday. (David Azaguri/US Embassy Jerusalem via AP)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy on Friday visited a food distribution site in the Gaza Strip operated by an Israeli-backed American contractor whose efforts to deliver food to the hunger-stricken territory have been marred by violence and controversy.

International experts warned this week that a “worst-case scenario of famine” is playing out in Gaza. Israel’s nearly 22-month military offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some 2 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving people.

Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee toured a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, which has been almost completely destroyed and is now a largely depopulated Israeli military zone.

Hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while heading to such aid sites since May, according to witnesses, health officials and the United Nations human rights office. Israel and GHF say they have only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated.

In a report issued on Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said GHF was at the heart of a “flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.”

New Gaza aid plan

Witkoff posted on X that he had spent over five hours inside Gaza in order to gain “a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.”

He did not request any meetings with U.N. officials in Gaza during his visit, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. U.N. agencies have provided aid throughout Gaza since the start of the war, when conditions allow.

Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for GHF, said the visit reflected Trump’s understanding of the stakes and that “feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority.” The aid group says it has delivered over 100 million meals since it began operations in May.

All four of the group’s sites established in May are in zones controlled by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation, with starving people scrambling for scarce aid.

More than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire since May while seeking aid in the territory, most near the GHF sites but also near United Nations aid convoys, the U.N. human rights office said last month.