Trump envoy visits Gaza aid sites as Israel accused of starvation policy

US to assess 'dire situation' in Gaza as Human Rights Watch calls Israeli killings of people seeking aid a 'war crime'.

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(Al Jazeera) United States President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is in Gaza to inspect aid distribution as pressure mounts on Israel over its starvation policy in the war-torn Palestinian territory.

Witkoff and US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, visited aid distribution sites run by the controversial USand Israeli-backed GHF on Friday. Condemnation of Israel is growing over famine in Gaza and reports that more than 1,000 desperately hungry Palestinians have been killed since May at the GHF sites.

Friday’s visit was “to learn the truth” about the GHF's distribution activities, Hucakbee said on social media. During the trip, they were briefed by the Israeli military and spoke to “folks on the ground”, he added.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday that Witkoff would visit “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”.

“The special envoy and the ambassador will brief the president immediately after their visit to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region,” Leavitt said.

The visit by the top US envoy comes a day after more than 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the territory and health officials reported the deaths of two more children from starvation, adding to the Gaza Health Ministry's confirmed death toll of 154 people who have died from “famine and malnutrition” - including 89 children - in recent weeks.